


Take My Life / Steal Your Heart

by TalesFromTheSaltMine



Category: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, Persona Series
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Female Protagonist, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Let Sakamoto Ryuji Say Fuck, Mild changes to the story, More interaction between the group, POV Multiple, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Slow Burn, Slow pacing in the beginning, no beta we die like men, personal growth for Akira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 82,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24482941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalesFromTheSaltMine/pseuds/TalesFromTheSaltMine
Summary: Akira Kurusu is charged with a crime that she didn't commit, not even her own family believes in her innocence. Thrust into the chaotic city of Tokyo she is forced to confront not only the corruption that seeks to destroy what little she has left, but the truth of who she really wants to be.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto
Comments: 40
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the length of this chapter in advance, it just felt hard for me to split it into two without making the either of the halves smaller and less coherent than I'd like.

**Chapter One**

In the span of twenty four hours Akira’s life was over, there was no simpler way to put it. After signing a plea deal she had been carted from the police station in her hometown of Shizuoka to the closest family court, which was in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa. She had been escorted to the court in the morning and was forced to wait until the late afternoon before the trial could begin.

The trial was as efficient as it was bleak, the gavel pounding akin to evening bells, condemning Akira to her fate. She stares at the laquered wood of the table in front of her, she’s glad for the expediency of it all as it’s a stark contrast to the processing and interrogation. Her mugshots were a sorry thing, she remembers looking into the camera with wide grey eyes, still not comprehending just what was going on. Her black hair was wild and disheveled from when the police had pushed her into the squad car. Despite being a good head taller than most girls in her grade she felt tiny in comparison to the officers she was surrounded by. After that ordeal she'd been dragged into that cold, awful interrogation room and left there. The prosecutor had yelled at her for what felt like an eternity. In actuality Akira broke after only three hours of interrogation, signing a plea deal that dropped what was originally two years in prison to one year’s worth of probation.

She’s shaken from her thoughts as one of the courtroom attendants places a firm hand on her shoulder. “Kurusu-san, it’s time for you to return home, if you come this way we have arranged for you to be dropped off.” She can barely hear him, the gavel still ringing in her ears as she stands and follows behind the attendant, eyes connecting with the floor. She nearly bumps into him when he stops, not even noticing that they had actually left the building.

“These officers are here to escort you to your home. Please give your parents these,” He hands her a thick folder that she clutches to her chest “ and make sure they read through them thoroughly as those are requirements for successfully completing your probation, assuming that you’ll actually try of course.”

“What about my bag? The officers back in Shizuoka took it. It had my rail pass and all of my yen for bus fare.” Akira asks, the lack of weight on her shoulder unsettling her.

“Your belongings should’ve been returned home this afternoon, if not they’ll most likely arrive before you do. About the fare however…” The attendant reaches into his pocket and pulls out several hundred yen, handing it to Akira “Consider this Japan’s investment in your rehabilitation, if you're caught using this to buy anything but fare there will be dire consequences.”

“Thank you sir.” Akira mumbles quietly, bowing low before she steps into the back of the police cruiser. The officers in front don’t even bother addressing her as they pull away into traffic and Akira’s thankful for that. She opens the folder gently, leafing through the pages and briefly scanning the pages. She gives up quickly, the writing is dense and Akira can barely make heads or tails of what half of it actually means.

The ride continues silently for a while before the officer in the passenger seat groans “Do we really have to drive this piece of shit all the way to Shizuoka? It’s like a two and a half hour drive!” Akira turns to stare out the window, keeping her gaze focused out the window at the twilight landscapes they passed. _I’m innocent! Please I just tried to help!_ Akira wants to scream that at the two but she feels frozen as they continue to complain.

“Hell no, we get to dump her at the Tokaido Line and she’s on her own from there, hopefully she doesn’t decide to be any more of a pain than she’s been. Her poor parents,” The driver leers at Akira over his shoulder “putting so much work into raising a proud member of Japan and this is the thanks they get.”

She can feel his stare burning into her cheek as she continues to stare. The officer in the passenger seat twists around to face her “Hey you hear that? If you go causing anymore trouble the courts aren’t gonna cut you anymore slack, it’ll be straight to prison with you.” 

In a feat of impossibility Akira shrinks even further into herself, not wanting to further provoke the officers. She spends the rest of the ride trying to figure out how she’s going to go to school. _There’s no way that Tokoha’s gonna let me come back after this… the next closest high school is in Shizuoka and that’s nearly two hours away by train._ Akira lets her mind wander, tuning out the outside world.

She’s torn from her temporary mental haven as the police car abruptly stops and the driver calls back to her “Brat! This is your stop, get out and get going, your parents are supposed to notify your parole officer when you get home so you’d better not keep them waiting.”

Akira nods and quietly gathers the folder and steps out of the car, she doesn’t look back as it drives away, instead keeping her head down as the evening commuters that pass by give her odd looks. _Please stop looking at me like that, I’m not a monster._ The thought comes unbidden and she squashes it as she shuffles into the station, still clutching the folder like a floatation device. _It kind of is_. A sardonic part of her whispers, as she boards a train for Shizuoka she reopens the folder and skims the documents again. Finally alone the words in the folder hit her at full force, seeing “probation”, “criminal record”, and “imprisonment” attached to her name feels like chains constricting around her. The train begins to move and Akira dreads what she’ll find when she returns home.

***

Akira braces herself for the scolding of her life as she waits for the front door to be opened. She never thought her parents were overly strict, their punishments seemed fitting whenever she got in trouble before. _I’ve never gotten in trouble quite like this though._ The bolt can be heard unlatching with a light click as the door swings back to reveal her father, Akira tenses when she faces him.

Naoki Kurusu is a tall man, balding, with a horseshoe of salt and pepper hair around the sides. His hand is gripping the edge of the door loosely and Akira can faintly see the scars from years of working in a kitchen reflected on his fingers. He taps the door expectantly, with a smile on his face.

“Come in Akira, we were worried about you getting home so late!” He steps aside to let her in and Akira cautiously moves inside. _This isn’t right, where’s the stare? What’s going on right now, why am I not being grounded until the day I’m legally an adult?_ Not wanting to test the atmosphere she walks into the dining room where her mother is seated at the table, smiling just like her father.

Mitsuki Kurusu is much shorter than both Akira and Naoki, with thick black hair and sharp grey eyes. Naoki often liked to joke that Akira got her features because of her dominant personality, it took Akira a long time to understand why he was always scolded saying that.

“H-hey mom, this- they asked me to give this to you and dad when I got home.” She stammers, setting the folder down gently on the table. Her mother reaches over and flips it open, scanning the first document lightly.

“You’ve had a long day haven’t you?” There’s a small smile on her face, “Why don’t you run upstairs, take a shower, and get ready for bed.” Akira tries to gulp down the knot in her throat as she quickly follows her mother’s instructions.

Akira steps into her room, scanning it briefly before she realizes that something is missing; her bag isn’t there. She sighs, running a hand through her hair and finding herself disgusted with how many knots her fingers get tangled in. “Shower first, bag second.” She tells herself as she walks to the bathroom, starting the shower before returning to the hall to grab a towel. 

“So we’re in agreement, right Mitsuki?” Akira freezes, her father’s voice carrying clearly up the staircase. Against her better judgement she hides herself behind a wall near the bannister and listens in on the conversation.

“It’s not like there’s any other choice Naoki, _regulars_ at the shop said that they’d feel uncomfortable coming to Kurusu Grill if it meant having Akira around! People that have come to our shop every day for the past five years have said they’d stop because they wouldn’t feel safe being so close to a criminal!”

By this point Akira has clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle sobs, each word her mother spits causing her to sink a little more into herself. “Alright, tomorrow we can call her parole officer and explain what we’d like to have happen. For now we should just keep quiet about all this, she might react badly if she finds out.”

 _I’m going to react badly to what?_ It takes a moment before her mind fills in the blank. _They’re going to have me stop working at the shop._ Her chest tightens considerably, the grill was her favorite place outside of home. The sound of frying meat and the smell of udon and soba was always a familiar comfort to her after years of working with her parents. 

Akira can hear her mother’s dejected sigh “I know, but I can hardly believe this.” _Then don’t! None of it’s true, how can you not see that?_ Akira thinks dejectedly before her mother continues “I mean being on trial for assault? How could she put us in a position like this, after everything we’ve done for her. We’ve worked so hard to build a respectable presence in the community and she’s gone and thrown away nearly twenty five years of hard work like it’s meant nothing!”

_I haven’t! I’ve been a good daughter to you all this time, I helped Dad with the cooking in the kitchen almost as soon as I could see over the countertops! I’ve gotten up early every day for the past ten years to help you get ready to open the shop before heading out to school. I made all of the friends you wanted me to make and my grades are some of the best in the class… I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me!_

Akira’s head hits the back of the wall and her thoughts are interrupted by the loud thump that it causes. Everyone in the house is silent for a moment before Mitsuki calls out, projecting a brittle innocence “Akira dear? Is everything okay up there?” suddenly quieter Akira can just barely hear her mother hiss “Naoki, go check to see if she’s still in the shower!” Quickly rocking onto the balls of her feet Akira moves into the bathroom as quietly as she can before throwing her clothes into a disorganized pile on the floor and all but leaping into the shower. The water is scalding hot but she can barely feel it over the deluge of raw emotional pain that threatens to tear its way through her throat. Instead Akira forces it back down and lets the water wash over her slowly washing away the sweat, oil, and dirt that accumulated from not being allowed access to a shower for over a day.

It’s a good while before Akira works up the strength to leave the shower. Drying herself off and shuffling back into her room she quickly changes into a pair of loose fitting sweats and a large sweater. Steeling herself, Akira goes downstairs and slinks into the living room, keeping a careful eye on the dining room, hoping to avoid any contact with her parents.

“Took an awfully long shower there Akira, trying to steal all the hot water from your old man, don’t you know that’s a crime?” She freezes as she turns, noticing that her father. He smiles, scratching at the back of his head “It’s been a long day, why aren’t you headed to bed?” 

The veneer of friendliness scares her, it’s new and foreign compared to everything she’s seen in the past. “I- I just came down to get my bag, it wasn’t in my room and I wanted to plug my phone in before I go to sleep.” Inwardly Akira breathes a sigh of relief as Naoki seems placated, he waves to the nearby couch where she spots her leather tote. It was a small comfort to see it still in good condition, it had been the first thing she’d bought when her parents started giving her an allowance after a while of working at their restaurant. She opened it quickly and rifled through it, ensuring that none of her things had been lost. After a satisfactory inspection Akira wished her father goodnight, bowing slightly and avoiding eye contact with him, before rushing back to the safety of her bedroom.

Once back she gently placed the bag on her desk before removing her phone and the one other precious purchase she’d made with her money. A pair of red, circumaural headphones, they had cost nearly seven months allowance and she had to go all the way into Tanuma to buy them. They had active noise cancellation, a wider frequency range than was considered standard, and soundstage capabilities. The headphones are thankfully undamaged after not only the scuffle she had with the drunk man, but from police handling as well.

Plugging in her phone and laying down on her bed Akira opens her chat app, in an attempt to get someone to listen she opens the first contact that isn’t her parents, Nanami Kutsuki is first on the list, she’s the daughter of the local butcher that her parents buy from. Akira had always enjoyed Nanami’s taste in manga and anime, and she was the one Akira hung out with most during school breaks. 

**Akira:** Hey, I need someone to talk to, are you up?

Akira bites her lip as she spends a few minutes anxiously opening and closing the app, as if it would summon a message faster. Shaking her head she tries again.

**Akira:** I’m sorry for bothering you so late but it’s serious, please.

A second later a text bubble shows as Nanami is typing her response. Akira drums her fingers against her bed in anticipation. Her phone vibrates gently as the message comes through.

**Nanami:** Stop texting me, my parents told me about what you did. Do you have any idea how bad it’s going to be when people find out I hung out with you?

Akira stares at her phone flabbergasted. _How could people already know what happened? It’s been two days, I haven’t even had my sentence for a full twenty four hours yet!_ She quickly drafts a response

**Akira:** Whatever you heard? None of it’s true, I didn’t even touch the guy!

**Nanami:** Are you seriously trying to lie right now? Yuuka’s parents were talking about the case at your parents’ grill, you got charged with assault and battery! Seriously leave me alone you psycho.

_Yuuka. That explains everything._ Akira grits her teeth, Yuuka Ito’s father is an officer in their district. The two girls never got along, in constant competition in the student rankings since the beginning of middle school. _Yuuka probably went around the neighborhood screaming about it at the top of her lungs. She must be so excited._ In one last desperate push to make Nanami see the truth she tries one last text.

**Akira:** You’re right I did get charged, I’m sorry for not acknowledging that but I’m telling you I didn’t hurt him, or even try to! He was just really drunk and he stumbled, it’s not my fault!

Feeling frustrated, Akira taps the call button in the chat log, she barely gets a single ring in before an automated voice cuts through the dial tone. “The number you are trying to reach is not available, if you believe there is an issue with your service please dia-.”

She thumbs the end call button dejectedly, a part of her wants to make up an excuse for Nanami, her phone died or she went to sleep but Akira knows that she’s just been blocked. Flopping onto her bed Akira plugs her headphones in and selects a playlist she created, it’s filled with songs almost exclusively by Claude Debussy. Soon she’s surrounded by the soft melodies of a piano and as she closes her eyes Akira lets herself drift off to sleep. Blissfully unaware of the sound of chains softly clanking around her.

The next morning Akira gets up at five o’ clock, as she would normally, taking a second shower and changing to an outfit she’d wear to work at the grill. Gingerly making her way downstairs she sees her parents performing their bustling morning ritual of coffee and a quick breakfast. She tries to play her part in it too as she quickly pours herself a cup of coffee and grabs a slice of toast. She tells herself that the silence is normal as she eats her breakfast.

After she’s finished and cleaned her plate and mug Akira follows her parents to the door of the house before both of them stop, anxious looks on their faces. They turn to each other and her father jerks his head at Akira and walks out of the house. 

“Akira,” Her mother’s tone is sickly sweet “Your father and I talked things over and we think it’d be better for all of us if you didn’t come and work at the diner for the next couple of days. Why don’t you stay home and catch up on some of that anime that you like?”

Even though she knew that this would happen it still hurts, the faux kindness makes it worse. _I don’t have any ground to stand on myself though, I put us all in this position and it’s not like it’s going to be easy for them either._

Akira nods shallowly “I understand, you have a good day at work mom! Tell dad as well for me?”

The older Kurusu nods brightly before leaving to join her father in the car. Akira watches it pull away from the doorway before heading back inside the house for more coffee. 

The day goes so much slower than Akira could ever anticipate, like she expected she wasn’t going to be allowed back into Tokoha High School not that it’d be better than being in her home. Her mother was right, if Nanami was any indication then facing the rest of her friends in person would be even more miserable. In the end she decides to waste the day away watching anime reruns and playing games on her phone.

***

This becomes Akira’s routine for the next few days, getting up as she usually would, spending the morning with her parents as they get ready for work, then lazing away in either her room or the living room while listening to music or watching television. By the time her parents finally arrived home Akira was already falling asleep, she can occasionally hear them arguing with someone over the phone, she’d simply set her phone closer to the bed and quietly play music until she could drift off to sleep. 

_I used to think that other kids had it easy being able to do whatever they wanted during the summer, but this is just miserable. I’d rather be working with Mom and Dad right now… I shouldn’t be complaining, I’m the one who’s causing problems for them._

This is the first thing Akira thinks as she wakes up on Saturday morning, pushing off the covers and languidly stretching before shambling through her morning routine, showering quickly before throwing on yet another pair of sweatpants and an old sweatshirt before going down to have breakfast. 

The routine is immediately broken as Akira walks into the kitchen to find that her mother is gone already and that her dad is working through pancakes, a rarity in the Kurusu house, at a leisurely pace, perusing through a newspaper as he eats.

Walking over to an open stack of pancakes Akira plucks two of them from the pile and moves to the table, drowning them in syrup before digging in. They eat in silence until the curiosity grows too great to ignore.

“Where’s Mom?” Naoki finally sets the newspaper down and turns to Akira.

“She’s opening the shop on her own today since we aren’t as busy on the weekends. We both agreed that keeping you cooped up in here wasn’t healthy so I thought it’d be fun if we went out to watch a movie over at that theater in Tanuma, sounds like a good plan right?”

Akira nearly drops her fork in surprise, going out as a family was a rare occurrence, and especially not during the restaurant’s operating hours, she looks up at him hopefully. “And Mom’s okay with us leaving her at the shop today?”

Naoki nods, “We talked about it last night, we’ll be there and back before any sort of a lunch rush can form. You should trust your mother to be able to take care of things you know? It’s not good to doubt your own parents.” 

She looks away apologetically “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that she didn’t feel left out for not coming with us.” Her father nods easily before taking both of their plates and washing them in the sink.

“Go get your bag and change into some nice clothes, then we’ll head out when I’m done washing these dishes.” Akira nods, before returning to her room to change into a nice pair of jeans, a cream white tee with a black blazer. Grabbing her leather tote bag she gently puts her headphones and phone into it, Akira heads back down to find Naoki waiting for her by the front door, she quickly joins him as they head out to the car.

***

The drive to Tanuma goes rather quickly for a Saturday morning and when they get to the theater Naoki lets Akira pick the movie. She scans the list for a minute before finding ‘The Lunarian’ still being shown in theaters. Nanami had gone to see it when it came out months before and said that it was quite a fun movie. Her father agrees to it, finding that they end up with quite a bit of time before the first showing of the film, so Naoki suggests that the two wander into the nearby shopping mall.

The pair end up in a variety store, Akira being drawn to a large selection of CDs lining a shelf, taking time to look for new releases and artists. She becomes so engrossed in it she’s shocked when a young boy accidentally bumps into her, he quickly apologizes to her and she smiles, about to tell him that he’s fine before a woman comes up beside Akira. 

The woman smiles politely as she turns to her and Akira realizes that she knows the woman, it’s her middle school homeroom teacher, Watanabe-sensei. The woman recognizes Akira at about the same time, her smile quickly morphing into a frown, recoiling away from her and grabbing her son by the wrist, harshly tugging him away from Akira without a word. She watches the two quickly move away from her with misery as she hangs her head.

 _Is this how everyone really sees me now, some sort of abominable monster?_ Her introspection is cut short as her father places a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. He gently pulls her away from the laptops and closer to an accessory kiosk. 

“Is this how it’s going to be from now on Dad?” Akira whispers.

“Even if it is at least you’ll never have to worry about long lines, just give them a glare and they’ll go running, think of the positives right?” Naoki jokes, adding to Akira’s inner turmoil.

After a moment her father finally notices her stress and sighs, running a hand through his hair before turning to the accessories nearby and staring for a moment. “Hey Akira, try these on for me would you?” 

She looks up to see him holding a pair of glasses set in a black wide rimmed frame. “Why? I don’t need glasses, Dad my vision’s fine.”

Naoki looks nonplussed and holds the glasses closer to her face, gesturing for her to take them. “They’re decorative glasses kiddo, please just put them on? It’ll make me happy if you do.”

Akira takes the glasses and pushes them onto her face. They feel odd at first, the sudden weight on her ears and the foreign presence sitting on her nose border closely on discomfort. She looks in the mirror, the glasses making her look softer, almost more studious. 

After a few moments her father joins her in the mirror, sidling next to her with a hand on her shoulder. “Well now doesn’t that look nice? You look like a proper honors student now, no one's ever going to think a hoodlum would look like this.” 

Akira turns from the mirror to face her father, wringing her hands nervously “You really think they make me look nicer? Do you think I could get them Dad? They’d be nice to have for when I get accepted into a new school.”

Her father looks disquieted for a moment before a warm smile smooths its way forward “Sure thing kiddo, let's get these paid for quickly then,” he glances at his watch “our movie’s about to start soon!”

***

Akira wears her new glasses throughout the movie and during the trip home, as her dad is voicing his thoughts on the movie she repeatedly checks her new appearance through her phone’s camera app. _These really do feel like they’re working. It feels like I’m wearing a mask honestly, I’ll have to ask Mom what she thinks when she comes home from work tonight._

“-dn’t think that Lark Botney would live at the end of the movie, how about you Akira? Akira? Kid get off your phone, I asked you a question.” Akira blinks, refocusing on Naoki, locking her phone and sliding it back into her bag.

“If Botney was going to live? I already knew he was going to, Kutsuki-san told me about it after she saw the movie a few months ago. It was still enjoyable to watch thought, even knowing how it ended.” Akira looks out of the car and notices that they hadn’t crossed the Ōi River where they usually would when going into town. “Didn’t we miss our bridge back there? Are we going on a scenic drive or are you just getting old” She jokes as she takes in the sight of the shallow river.

Her father checks his watch quickly before looking back at the road, “If I ever did forget, what makes you think I’d tell you so easily? I just wanted to spend a little more time in the car, it’s not often that we get to ride around in the city, so just bear with me, we’ll be there in just a bit.” Akira can see his grip tense along the wheel, he relaxes it quickly and turns the radio on, going silent.

Akira’s content to watch the streets go by at first, but she grows confused as they pass another bridge that would lead back to their neighborhood. They pass the Horai Bridge and the Tokaido train line before her father turns onto the bridge leading home. Akira relaxes and fishes out her phone again, this time keeping a careful eye on her father in case he says anything. She scrolls through different anime releases schedules as she tries to figure what her entertainment for the night is going to be. She gets so engrossed in it that she doesn’t realize that the car has slowed to a stop. 

Raising her head Akira notices that the pair aren’t at home, rather are parked in front of the Tokaido Line’s Kanaya Station and even stranger is that her mother is sitting on a concrete bench in front of it, legs crossed and hands resting neatly on her knees.

“Come on.” Her father beckons, his gentler tone from the morning is fading, replaced with a layer of steel. He steps out of the car and walks over to her side of the car. Akira undoes her seatbelt and does the same, a dreadful feeling freezing her insides as her feet hit the concrete. She moves to put her bag under the car seat but her father grips her arm tightly. 

“You’re going to want to take that with, now quit messing around.” As soon as Akira’s away from the car he shuts the door firmly, before grabbing her arm again and pulling her towards her mother. As they grow closer Akira meets her mother’s eyes and can feel a seething anger just beneath the surface. 

“Dad, I thought Mom was watching the shop? Why are we here… What’s going on- why aren’t you saying anything?” Akira begs, grabbing at the hand that’s clamped to her bicep as they come to a stop in front of her mother.

“Akira quit making such a commotion we’re in public, you’re acting so disgracefully!” Her mother snaps coldly as she stands.

“How long until it leaves?” Her father asks, staring at the building and the train waiting in the station.

“Luckily you got here just in time, it doesn’t leave for another fifteen minutes. Now come along, I’d like to have this done as quickly as possible.” She says before turning and walking into the station without saying a word. Akira’s father follows as well, attempting to pull Akira who finally manages to wrench her way out of her father’s grip.

“Wait, hold on what do you mean ticket? All I want is an explanation... please?” This causes her mother to stop cold right before the door of the station, all but stomping back to Akira and grabbing her tightly.

Mitsuki looks at her, annoyed “You’re leaving for Tokyo, we finally found a school that would be willing to take you finally. You’ll be staying with a man named Sojiro Sakura for a year, we can’t have you here just lounging about Akira. If you can’t help at the restaurant or continue your education there’s no point in having you here.”

“Tokyo?” Akira exclaims incredulously, “Sojiro Sakura? Wait you’re not making any sense Mom, I can still work at the shop too! I’ll just stay in the back and not come out, but I can still help.” She struggles as her mother starts to drag her towards the station.

She feels her father come up from behind her and push her along as well. Between the two adults Akira gives up, moving along more voluntarily, not that it eases either of the parents’ grips. 

“You’re going to Tokyo because not a single school within three prefectures wants to take in a delinquent like you. And hiding in the back of the shop? Do you really think that it’d be better to lie to our customers about not having gotten rid of a potentially dangerous criminal in the same place that they eat? I think that this shows just how delinquent you’ve become Akira, you’ve forgotten all the lessons we taught you.”

Akira rubs her forearms gently through her jacket sleeves. The party receives several odd looks from people as they pass into the station, Akira’s mother hastily thrusting a ticket stub into the hands of a waiting attendant. No sooner has the man nodded in approval before the group continues on, Akira strong armed between the two parents to the front of the station line.

Her mother quickly rounds on her, a sickly sweet smile on her face in stark contrast to the low tone of her voice “Be grateful we’re willing to pay for this, your violence nearly ruined our family’s dream, you know that? We spent all that time caring for you and raising you and you throw it back in our faces like it was nothing!” She sneers “Even now you just continue to moan and complain about how it affects you, well you know what? Grow up Akira! This hurts your father and I far more than it ever could hurt you! Our business is suffering now because we’re known as ‘the parents who raised a violent psychopath’ now! You need to take responsibility for your actions, I already mailed some of your clothes over to Sakura-san so you’d best get moving.”

 _She’s right… I’m being a burden on them by staying. I’m not that important, and if the business fails my parents would be screwed. They put a lot of money into it. I need to stop being such a needy child, they’re doing this to protect our family and I should be grateful for it._ Akira nods, taking the leftover ticket stub and adjusting the strap of her tote on her shoulder.

“Okay… I’ll do it, but where am I going? I’ve never heard of Sakura-san before.” Her mother’s smile gets a touch wider as she produces a piece of paper with directions cleanly printed on it, handing it to Akira. She grabs the paper, gently putting it into her tote as she shakes lightly. 

“I’ll do my best to make you both proud!” Akira promises, trying to sound as confident as she can in front of them. Her mother merely sighs, pulling her into a quick hug with her father before gently pushing her towards the train.

“Go and get settled in now. Make sure you thank Sakura-san for taking you in when you get there!” Akira nods and moves to the open train doors, casting one last look at her parents when she enters the train. They’ve already started back towards the car. 

Akira shakes her head and continues into the car dumping herself into her seat and gazing out at the town she grew up in. She fishes out her headphones as more people fill the cart and puts them on, scrolling through her playlists until she finds a playlist that interests her. She watches a blue butterfly flit just outside the window before adjusting the arms of her glasses against the leather of the headphones. She jolts when the train begins to pull out of the station, her home falling away as it picks up speed. 

_I’m doing this to help Mom and Dad, it’s the least I can do after everything I’ve put them through. Business will go back to normal for them and when I come back in a year it’ll be like nothing bad ever happened. I just have to get through a year living with this Sakura-san, I just have to think positively about this. Oh! Akihabara is in Tokyo as well, I’ve always wanted to visit_

Akira squints as the sight of the water reflecting off the Suruga Bay blinds her. She unlocks her phone and stares at her parents’ contacts in her chat app. Thumbing over them briefly before shutting it, she forces a smile.

Akira settles in, turning further towards the window and resting her head against the wall of the cart. She lets her eyes glaze over as she imagines her new life in Tokyo. 

***

The first thing Akira notices when she leaves the train and enters the station in Tokyo is the sheer number of people. The first thing she says as she steps off the train is “I’m sorry” as she is pushed and shoved around the station by the throngs of people going about their day. Managing to find a moment of calm pressed against the wall of the station Akira feels just how oppressive the atmosphere is, the hustle and bustle of the city life is nothing against the aura of conformity that screams at her. 

A queasiness wraps itself around Akira like a heavy blanket. Reaching for the headphones around her neck and putting them on, the silence behind the speakers relaxes her. Steeling herself before stepping back into the current of people. After spending what feels like an hour Akira manages to find her way out of the station and in Shibuya Crossing. She stops for a moment and looks up from her phone to take it in.

People who had been to Tokyo from Shizuoka always talked about this place,the neon signs airing ads for things Akira had never heard of before, the ludicrous number of shops that lined and littered the edges of the massive square, and of course the people. In a feat that almost seemed impossible to Akira there were even more people here as crowds and cars made their way through Shibuya.

The people seemed indifferent to the scale of it all, most choosing to keep their heads down and quickly walk to wherever they’re going. The only exceptions to this are the obvious tourists stopping to take pictures and conversing loudly amongst themselves, and Akira herself, she loses herself in taking the scene in for a moment before a beep from her phone garners her attention.

An eerie red eye overtakes her map before filling the lower half of the screen entirely. Akira frowns, swiping at the angry red mark several times to no avail. It pulses brightly once and suddenly her speakers fizzle out and the music stops playing. She quickly shoves her phone in her jacket pocket and pulls her headphones off her head, gingerly checking for damage. In removing her headphones she finds they aren’t the thing that is broken, there’s total silence in the Crossing. Putting her headphones around her neck Akira gasps as she looks up.

Everything has stopped moving, the people are frozen in place like mannequins, the massive screens are suspended as if they were broken. As Akira moves about the now still square she daringly waves her hand in front of people’s faces, even calling out to a few. It all ends in the same result however with no reaction coming from anyone.

After a minute Akira realizes something else is moving, a massive pillar of blue fire writhing in the distance. It soon fades into a more humanoid form, sprouting massive wings from its midsection. A face flickers to life on it, red eyes and a sinister smile mocking her before it fades, leaving a twisted reflection of herself in its wake.

Akira recoils, taking a step back as her doppleganger stares her down. It feels unnatural as it holds her gaze, its eyes yellow and manic as it glares back at her. She can hear chains rattling all around her, despite not being able to see any. The flames begin to lick at her imposter’s face and in a flash she disappears, the world abruptly coming back to life.

Stunned, Akira doesn’t even bother reacting when people end up bumping into her as she tries to process what she just saw.

 _What just happened? Everything just stopped, I can’t have just imagined that!_ She fixes her gaze on the spot where the monster had appeared, as if glaring at it would summon the creature again. When it doesn’t, Akira looks back down at her phone, the red eyed app has shrunk back down to the size of a normal icon. 

Skeptically Akira tries to delete it, raising an eyebrow when it actually works, disappearing into her recycle bin without any problems. Shaking her thoughts free, she puts her headphones back on, thankful that they've started working again and continues to follow the path towards Yongen Jaya, hoping to leave the oddity of Shibuya Crossing behind.

***

The neighborhood where her guardian for the year resides is so small it feels claustrophobic, the tiny streets lined with shops and homes one after the other with almost no space in between them, if any at all. She finds solace in the fact that it’s relatively more quiet when compared to Shibuya as she puts her headphones in her bag so that Sakura-san doesn’t get any negative impressions upon meeting her.

It takes her some time to find Sakura-san’s house because her maps app doesn’t get her any closer than the small area she’s in now. It may have gone faster if Akira had talked to the policeman that loitered next to the movie theater but even passing by him was enough to make Akira nervous, so she settled for talking to some of the more elderly community members to find out where it was.

Now sitting in front of the gated wall leading into Sakura-san’s house she rings the doorbell. She waits for a few minutes in silence, shifting her weight awkwardly as she sways. 

She tries the doorbell again, for a second she thinks she can see a shadow in a window on the second floor but dismisses it. _I’ve been in this city for all of an hour and a half and I’m already hallucinating… I just need to meet Sakura-san and when I get to my new room I’m going straight to sleep._ In her anxious pondering she barely notices a deliveryman stop behind her.

“Hmmm… Sakura-san’s usually working at his cafe right now.” The postman mumbles to himself as he checks his clipboard, not even noticing the girl in front of him. “Guess I’ll just come back at the end of my route.” Turning on his heel the man walks back to his van and drives off, leaving Akira to find the cafe he was talking about.

She tracks down the cafe a few minutes later, it’s a clean, well kept building tucked into the alleyway. The shop would hardly be noticeable at all if it weren’t for the red and white banner with “Leblanc” printed on it. She stares at the open sign for a few moments before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The first thing Akira notices is that she is practically swamped by the rich aroma of coffee and curry, which she shouldn’t be surprised by given the sign on the awning and the menu written on the board outside. The next thing is an older couple in the booth, discussing something that she ignores as she looks at the man lounging in a chair at the bar.

He’s older, with slick black hair and a pointed goatee, Akira figures that he’s the owner given that he’s wearing an apron. He mutters something about shellfish to himself as he glares at the paper in his lap. He looks up at her, eyes squinting for a moment before annoyance flashes. 

Tossing the paper casually onto the bar and hoisting himself from the seat he turns to Akira. “Oh, right.” he sighs in resignation “They did say that was today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goal for this story is to cover the game in its entirety, if you missed it in the tags that does mean I am going to be spoiling persona 5 royal's entire story. I hope to have a chapter posted every week to two weeks until fall semester of college starts up, then around every week and a half at the minimum. I don't want to add any more tags that would spoil what I have planned for the story but if I do feel that trigger warnings need to be placed I'll make sure to add them at the top of the chapter notes to ensure that you know what you're going into. Thankfully that won't be more than a small handful of times so rest assured I'm not trying to scar people by going super grimdark or anything like that. With that said I'm off to writing chapter two!


	2. Chapter 2

Akira tries not to deflate at the utter indifference the man shows her as he sees the two elderly customers out of the cafe. As soon as the door closes she can hear him muttering under his breath about them as they leave. He turns to her, putting a hand on his hip and cocking his head expectantly.

“So you’re the girl huh, Akira right?” 

Akira nods, bowing slightly in polite greeting “I am… I was told Sakura-san would be taking care of me, is he here?” She knows that it’s foolish to ask, but she hopes that this isn’t the man she’ll be living with.

Just as she suspects her hopes are dashed almost immediately as the manager gives her a funny look. “Yeah, I’m Sojiro Sakura and you’re the kid who’s gonna be in my custody for the next year.” She resists the urge to frown, she hates being called a kid. 

_ All things considered… at least he’s not calling me brat, small victories right? _ Sakura-san continues talking and Akira refocuses back to him.

“I was wondering what kind of kid they were gonna send me. Have to say… you’re not what I was expecting though.”

“In a good way right?” Akira asks hopefully, giving what feels like the fakest smile she’s ever had.

Sakura-san doesn’t seem amused, he doesn’t look angry either, which Akira takes as a win. “Jury’s still out on that. Did your parents tell you why I took you in? Judging from that look on your face I’m going to go ahead guess that they didn’t. The short of it is that they happened to be friends with one of my chef buddies and I happened to owe him a big favor so-” He stops himself “Ah, that doesn’t matter, follow me.” 

With a wave he turns and heads back into the shop, Akira follows him curiously eyeing the small kitchen as she walks by. He takes them up a narrow flight of steps in the very back of the cafe and into a large dusty attic, with junk piled from high from wall to wall. She’s confused as to why she’s there for a moment before she spots a threadbare bed in the back corner resting on boxes with a worn comforter thrown over the top of it.

Her heart sinks as Sakura-san continues “This is your room, I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” The smile she plastered on earlier loses a bit of its luster.  
_‘At least’ is right, I’m literally going to be living in the attic of your shop, not even in your own home! Still, I should be grateful like Dad said… maybe if I ask nicely he’ll let me use the kitchen after hours?_

Sakura-san notices her silence, prodding “You look like you wanna say something.”

Akira panics at being on the spot “It’s just… it’s bigger than my room back home.” Her new guardian skeptically raises an eyebrow.

“It’s on you to clean up the rest, I’ll be leaving after I lock up each day as well. You’ll be alone here but don’t think that I won’t catch you if you do anything stupid. First sign of trouble and you’re out of here, got it?”

The speech shouldn’t be a surprise anymore but it still burns her up inside to hear it, no matter how much she wants to scream that she isn’t some delinquent monster she knows that no one would believe her. Unable to form any other reply she lowers her head, nodding gently.

“I got the gist of your situation from your probation officer. You stopped a man from assaulting a woman and he got injured in the process, suing you for the damages. After that the courts also pressed criminal charges, giving you a year’s worth of probation.”

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose “That’s what you get for interfering in situations that have nothing to do with you. That was between two adults, intervening was the dumbest thing you could’ve done.”

_ He was going to rape that woman… he’s not wrong that it was a stupid thing for me to do though. I’ve hurt Mom and Dad because of it,but what’s more important? What was the right thing to do, could I have lived with just walking away? _

Sakura-san continues, oblivious to Akira’s dilemma “You’re here now because your parents wanted you transferred out of Shizuoka and the courts approved it. In other words, you got carted out here for being a pain in the ass.”

Another weak nod from Akira.

Sakura-san steps closer and points a finger in her face “You’d better not go saying anything you don’t have to. I am in the restaurant business after all, you ruin my business and you’ll have nowhere else to go understand? Just keep your head down and at the end of the year you’ll get to go home.”

“A whole year… here.” Akira whispers, the nervous energy she felt earlier completely evaporated, replaced with a sinking weight in her gut.

“Like I said before, cause any problems either at Shujin or here and you’re going straight to juvie so you’d better be on your best behaviour here.”

Akira blinks “Shujin? What’s that?”

Her new guardian gapes before scoffing “Shujin Academy, the school you’ll be attending. How could you not know this?”   
She shrugs helplessly “My parents didn’t tell me the name of the school I was going to be attending, they just gave me your address, told me you were my caretaker and then put me on a train. They also said that they mailed my clothes here as well, you wouldn’t happen to know where they are would you?”

At this her caretaker actually expresses shock, recoiling “They didn’t even tell you the name of the school you’re going to? Sheesh talk about ba- you know what, not my place to say. And to answer your question, no. I haven’t gotten any packages at all today, chances are it’ll arrive sometime in the next few days…” He drifts off before slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand.

“Crap, and we’re going to Shujin to meet with your new principle tomorrow as well… It wouldn’t give a good impression if you’re still dressed in the same clothes from today…” He strokes his goatee for a moment before nodding to himself. “... It’ll work for today, stay up here. I'll be back in a few minutes, so don’t touch anything.”

He shuffles back downstairs and Akira can hear the doorbell jingles as he leaves.True to his word he’s back within ten minutes with a pair of thin black sweatpants and a matching sleeveless spaghetti top, along with a pair of women’s underwear. They look like they’d be worn by a woman in their thirties and Akira stares at him questioningly but he simply shakes his head.

“Kid, this is one of those things you don’t question. I’ll be downstairs, change into these and I’ll wash your outfit so that it’s clean for when we go to Shujin tomorrow. But don’t go getting any ideas about me being your personal laundromat you got that? This is a one time deal because you don’t have any clothes for today.” He huffs quickly before going downstairs again.

Akira looks at the clothes hesitantly before quickly stripping down and changing into them. The fit is clearly not meant for her, the pants and underwear are too loose, at least the shirt while too large is not uncomfortably so.

However it creates another problem for Akira, her forearms are on full display. Rubbing at the mottled, red , angry webs and overlaps of discolored skin that lace the inside of her arms gently she decides to put on her jackets again, buttoning it up as high as it can go before bringing her previous outfit back downstairs. Sakura-san is sitting at the counter working at his crossword again, he doesn’t notice as she approaches.

“Six down, eight letters, a sacred work for soloists, choirs, and orchestra?” He intones. 

“It’s an ‘oratorio’, they’re generally religious pieces that tell a story through the music rather than through a play or text. One of the most famous oratorios is called Messiah, written by German composer George Frideric Handel.” She blurts, fidgeting with her clothing balled into her hands.

He glances up before copying the term down, letting out a chuckle when it actually fits the puzzle. “So you’re not just some empty headed kid, not bad.” He sets the newspaper down and plucks the ball of clothes from her, noticing she’s still wearing her jacket. 

“Look kid while I’m not a dry cleaner I can still clean that jacket pretty well, take it off so I can wash it.”

Akira crosses her arms in front of it defensively“Sakura-san, the clothes you gave me don’t quite fit right… I’d feel more comfortable keeping this on please.” It’s not entirely a lie she reasons with herself.

His eyes widen at the implication and he stutters for a moment “A-ah right, nevermind that then. It should be fine not getting washed for a day. I’ll get these washed once I close up shop for the night, they’ll be ready to wear by tomorrow morning. Speaking of which, you’d best be awake by the time I get in because we’ll be going to Shujin to properly meet the staff, and from the looks of it we’ll have to stop and pick you up a uniform as well… what a pain.”

The bell rings and a customer walks in, Sakura-san welcomes them lazily before turning back to her. “Head back upstairs, and get some cleaning done while you’re at it. That’s your room for the year and you’re going to be the one responsible for keeping it clean. Supplies are in the closet next to the stairs.” And with that he leaves to take the customer’s order.

***

Six hours is how long it takes to get the dust cleaned out of the room, walls, and furniture. Akira’s phone is almost dead from playing music the entire time, having rotated through several playlists during the cleaning. Sharp lemon replaces the musty scent that lingered before and the windows have received a thorough wiping so that Akira can actually see out of them. 

Leaning on the mop she borrowed from Sakura-san she gently pulls her headphones off and lets them rest around her neck. She looks around the room, groaning at the piles of stuff that she didn’t manage to move during the day. A low whistle draws her attention as she sees Sakura-san taking in her efforts. 

“I heard you moving around up here but I didn’t think you were actually cleaning,” he runs a finger along the end table by the couch, further surprised when a thin layer of cleaning oil comes up instead of dust “not a bad job kid.” He nods approvingly. “Why don’t you call it a night on the cleaning and head to bed? I’m heading out for the night myself anyway. I’m not going to look after you if you make yourself sick staying up too late so it’s on you to make responsible decisions, got it?”

Akira nods, gathering the cleaning supplies up and following her caretaker downstairs, placing them back into the closet before saying goodnight and heading back up the stairs, turning off the light, sloughing off her jacket and throwing it on the sofa, then throwing herself onto the bed. The springs dig somewhat into her ribs, forcing her to shift about on the bed before she truly gets comfortable. 

Plugging her phone in to charge in a nearby outlet and setting her headphones and case on the wide windowsill, Akira puts her hands behind her head and stares at the ceiling. Every time she closes her eyes Akira sees the event that landed her here. Despite how dark the whole event was she can still remember that man’s beady eyes and snide tone.

_ I couldn’t just let that go.  _ She thinks back to what Sakura-san said earlier.  _ Getting involved couldn’t really be the wrong thing to do could it? It’s true I saved that woman and that is important but I’ve done nothing but cause trouble for the people I care about. Which one is more important, the safety of one or the continued normalcy of the many? _

Akira closes her eyes as she tries drifting off but is interrupted by an alert pinging on her phone. She gropes for it blindly in the dark, pulling from the cardboard box she’s using as a nightstand. Expecting it to be a message from her parents she tries to squash her disappointment when it isn’t, instead she finds that the red eyed app from Shibuya Crossing has made its way back onto her phone, this time appearing on her main screen as if it had been there all along. It shimmers and blinks on her screen, she drags it to the recycle bin slowly, committing the fact that she has in fact deleted it twice now to memory. Watching as it is pulled into the animated garbage can, Akira puts her phone back on the box, puts her glasses next to them, and lets sleep take her.

*** 

It feels like seconds have passed when Akira awakes again, but something is very wrong. Instead of hearing the quiet bustle of Tokyo’s nightlife she instead hears dripping water and clanking chains. What was once a slightly uncomfortable bed has turned into a solid slab of cold metal. 

Sitting up abruptly Akira feels heavy manacles drawing her hands down into her lap. Looking down she finds that the ill fitted clothes have been replaced by a black and white striped prisoner’s outfit. It feels sweaty and thin, the chilly air of the room she’s in causing her to shiver lightly. Swiveling around to look at the room she finds that the door of the room she’s in is in fact a gate held shut by chains. She’s not in any room, but a prison cell.

A haughty chuckle comes from somewhere beyond her vision and before she can question it a little girl steps in front of the cell door. She wears a prim officers uniform with an eyepatch over her right eye. Akira stands to question the girl in uniform who sidesteps and another girl in an officer’s uniform steps out, looking almost identical to the first. The most notable difference being that the second’s eyepatch covers her left eye.

Shivering more than before, Akira trudges towards the cell door, getting within arm’s reach before a chain attached to a heavy metal ball in her cell prevents her from moving forward. Grasping the bars tightly Akira opens her mouth to ask the twins where she is. Before she can get a word out the two little wardens part and step back, revealing the rooms most curious inhabitant.

A spotlight bears down on the center of the room and in it is a wooden desk with a large stack of papers on it. Seated at that desk is an inhuman creature with pointed ears, bulging eyes, and an impossibly long nose. It’s fingers are interlocked, bridging together as it leers at her. The hands unfold and it extends one of them out to her as its face contorts into a cartoonishly wide smile.

“Trickster,” The voice that calls out to her is deep, low, and smooth like a bass instrument in a jazz ensemble “welcome to my Velvet Room.” it crows.

Akira shakes the bars of the cell door desperately but the door doesn’t even shudder, as if the door was welded shut. “So you’ve come to inmate.” One of the little wardens remarks in a pompous tone.   
“The you in reality is currently fast asleep, this is but a dream inmate” The other warden drones, as if devoid of emotion.

“ You’re in the presence of our master, stand up straight!” The bossy one commands. Akira quickly complies as the ‘master’ of her dream prison begins to speak.

“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a contract may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well.” It drums its long spindly fingers on the desk, seemingly bored. “We must speak of an important matter in relation to your life.”

Akira recoils, sweat dripping down her brow despite the chilly air. “Important matter? What are you talking about?”  
The thing, Igor, continues on as if she hadn’t said a word “Still, this is a surprise… This room reflects the nature of the contractor's heart. Is it irony or fate that your heart would summon a prison? On to the matter at hand, in the very near future ruin awaits you.”

_ Ruin? Does he mean my death, is this dream some kind of an omen?  _ Akira shakes the bars “What do you mean ‘very near future’? Please tell me what you know!” 

The warden on the right slams a baton against the cage and Akira releases the bars, staggering back in fear. “How dare you make demands of our master, know your place inmate!”

The left warden turns to her “Do not antagonize her Caroline, the inmate does not understand her place in all of this yet,” Akira opens her mouth to thank the girl but is interrupted “after all, humans are dull witted and slow even at their best.”

“Girls, please wait until after I am finished explaining the inmate’s duties before you confuse her.” Igor calmly calls “As for you inmate, ruin will become inevitable by the end of the year.”

Akira looks at him incredulously “That’s eight months from now! That’s a bit longer than ‘very near’ you know!”

Igor laughs, it’s a deep chortling sound “My apologies, I often forget how fleeting the lives of humans are, but worry not, there is a means to oppose that ruin. We must rehabilitate you towards freedom, to train you to cast off the chains that bind you.”

Looking down at her hands, Akira shakes the manacles around her wrists at Igor “Why do I have to be trained? Can’t you just take these off of me now?”

Igor sighs “As I said earlier, those chains are a manifestation of your heart’s design. What I speak of is chains that envelope your very soul, limiting your power and stunting its growth. Those are the chains you must cast off, such a feat will not be easy and will require you to take on the distortion of the world itself… Are you prepared for such a battle?”

“What do you mean ‘distortion of the world’? Are you saying that I’m going to have to fight the planet? And what power? I’m not special in any way, I’ve never possessed any power. You’ve got the wrong girl.” Akira is quickly starting to get annoyed by the chain on her leg, it makes attempting to pace incredibly difficult.

Igor shakes his head “Just because you have not exhibited any power does not mean you are powerless… it simply means that you must obtain the means of awakening it. Do so and I will observe your rehabilitation. Failure to awaken said power will be… unfortunate.” As he speaks the two wardens turn on their heels to face Akira directly “Ah, pardon me for not properly introducing them. To your right is Caroline and your left, Justine. They shall serve as your wardens here, assisting you in your rehabilitation.”

The two taunt her in their own ways, Caroline attempting to goad Akira while Justine condescends her. Akira puts a hand to her head, feeling a pressure start to build as the two little warden's shrill voices grate at her restraint.

Igor pulls the conversation back to him “I shall explain their roles in your rehabilitation at another time.” The twins pull another about face, their backs to Akira “It appears our time together is coming to an end. We shall meet again soon, if you truly wish to pursue your rehabilitation that is, and you will have more opportunities to acclimate to this place.”

Igor flicks his hand and an alarm blares to life, Akira instinctively covers her ears against the shrill noise. She can see Caroline saying something to her but her vision quickly fades to black and all becomes silent.

***

Akira wakes suddenly with bleary eyes, the weight of an old comforter upon her and the slight dig of mattress springs below.  _ I’m back in Sakura-san’s cafe, no… that was a dream, I never left my bed. But still, ruin? Rehabilitation? The prison setting? That has to have been some kind of stress dream influenced by the last week and a half. _

Shrugging off the odd dream she shifts her feet to the floor. Pulling her phone from the makeshift table she checks her messages; still nothing from her mother or father. She texts them that she arrived safely in Tokyo and is living with Sakura-san. She doesn’t mention that she’s actually living in the attic of his cafe, she doesn’t want to worry them.

The jingling of a bell draws her attention and she can hear footsteps making their way towards the stairs. Akira hastily pulls herself back onto the bed and drags the comforter back up to her chest. Sakura-san’s head comes into view as he trudges his way up the steep stairs. In his arms is a basket full of her neatly folded clothes

“So you’re already awake, that’s good. Shows you’re at least making some sort of an effort not to be a hassle. Hey, why’re so scrunched up like tha-” He notices her discomfort and quickly sets her clothes down on the table by the couch. “Sorry, I’ll make sure to knock or give you some sort of warning next time, I’ll just leave these here for you. You’ll want to wash up before we go, there’s a public bath right outside Leblanc, just go outside, take a left, then take the first right. Make it quick though, Sunday is a pretty busy day for the shop and I don’t want to keep it closed any longer than I have to.”

He quickly shuffles downstairs and Akira lowers the comforter, shifting off the bed and stretching in one smooth motion. In the basket there’s a bar of soap and an unopened bottle of men’s shampoo and conditioner. She throws her jacket on, plucking the hygiene products out and putting them in her pockets before walking out of Leblanc.

The sky overhead is somewhat cloudy and the atmosphere of the block is much more subdued than it was the day before. The baths are crammed into a tiny alley next to the shop like Sakura-san said. While it isn’t Akira’s first time in a public bath house, it’s certainly still uncomfortable and Akira goes about her business as quickly as she can.

***

After changing, Akira is ushered quickly into her new guardian’s car, which looks like a yellow beetle to her, despite Sakura-san’s insistence that “it’s a hit with the ladies”. The two zipper into Tokyo’s morning traffic, with Sakura-san listening quietly to news radio Akira is left to stare out of the window as they continue, drumming an anxious beat on her knee the rest of the way.

When they finally arrive at Shujin Academy Akira feels her nerves getting worse. The building reminds her of the courthouse, it’s concrete and sterile, the large metal gates not contributing to a more positive image of it either.

Sojiro stops her just before that gate, “Do us both a favor and behave got it? If you want to go and ruin your own life, do it on your own time. Just don’t be irresponsible and go bringing mine down with it as well.”

Before Akira can even reply he’s already turned and started walking into the school. Her feet freeze at the gate, the dream from last night at the forefront of her mind. With a shaky step she passes the gate, half expecting the little wardens and Igor to be waiting on the other side.

Instead what she finds is a woman in a worn out fuzzy sweater and a denim skirt already conversing with Sakura-san. She looks despondent and Akira can clearly see the bags under her eyes from her spot by the academy stairs. The woman walks in without saying a word to Akira and Sakura-san waves to Akira, subtly telling her to keep up. 

The group stops in front of the principles office, the tired woman still not having said another word. She sighs suddenly and raps on the door twice before pulling it open and leading the other two inside. “Principle Kobayakawa, this is Sakura-san and his ward, Kurusu-san. They’re here to prepare her for the school year.”

Akira steps into the room with her head low.  _ These people definitely know who I am by now, I’d be an idiot to think that they’ll want to play nice with someone who has a record like mine. _ She follows Sakura-san’s advice and chooses not to say anything, standing closer to Sojiro’s shoulder in an attempt to make herself less intimidating.

She looks up when the principle starts to speak,  _ He looks like that noodle dough I let rise for too long once.  _ Her mind supplies unhelpfully, the principle continuing to speak to Sakura-san, passing files for him to sign and other materials that her guardian redirects for Akira to look at. 

Kobayakawa doesn’t even bother addressing Akira until the end of the meeting, simply turning and calling her a liability, threatening expulsion should any trouble occur. Akira nods politely and promises to stay out of trouble, trying not to frown when she’s met with doubt from both the principle and the woman, who she learns is to be her new teacher, Kawakami-sensei. 

It’s not long after that the two are shown out by her new teacher, who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else on the planet than with the pair. Once past the gates Sakura-san stops Akira and hands her several thousand yen. She stares at all of the money in her hands quizzically before he elaborates. “Your uniform? You said your parents never told you what school you were going to right? Well I doubt they bothered ordering you one so now,” He points to a nearby subway station “Go find yourself a uniform shop and get one, I looked up the prices last night and that should be enough to cover it. Spend that money on anything else and I’ll have you thrown out, we clear?”

Akira nods, bowing low in thanks “Thank you Sakura-san. I’m extremely grateful for this gift. I’ll make sure to use it well.”

Her guardian only sighs “Yeah yeah, no need to kiss my ass about it… and don’t sound so formal either, you’re making me feel old. Either way, make sure you get back at a reasonable hour. I don’t want to have to stay up all night waiting for you to get back.”

Akira nearly bows again but catches herself, giving a polite nod instead. The two split and go their own separate ways, almost immediately after Sakura-san leaves her sight she digs into her bag and puts on her headphones, allowing music to drown out the humdrum of the city life. She’s thankful that finding an outfitter isn’t hard, finding one in the Station Square in Shibuya. 

The full set of the uniform, gym clothes, and bag are about what Sakura-san had said they’d be and Akira tucks the spare change in her bag as a reminder to give it back to him. She checks her phone for the time and smiles.  _ This little errand took less time than I thought it would. _ She hefts the unwieldy bag of clothing so that it sits more comfortably in the crook of her elbow.  _ I’ve always wondered what the inner city uniforms would look like. They are pretty spiffy looking honestly… I wouldn’t have minded if they made the skirt just a few inches longer though. It just feels like a light breeze could come along and I’d suddenly be giving every pervert behind me a free show. _

Standing at the subway waiting for a train to Yongen-Jaya Akira picks a smooth jazz playlist as she looks around the station. One girl in particular catches her eye, standing close to the ‘do not cross’ line next to the edge of the platform. She’s wearing a pair of tight fitting black capris shorts and a long white dress shirt, sleeves rolled just up to her elbows. What catches Akira’s interest is the book she has in her hand, the cover looking extremely familiar.

Digging through her bag Akira finds a twin to the girl’s book, it’s the Shujin Academy handbook.  _ She’s also a student at Shujin? She looks so focused, I don’t know how anyone would be able to read with all this city noise. I want to go and introduce myself but with how focused she seems, I think I’d just be a bother… I wonder if I’ll have any classes with her?  _ It takes a moment but Akira realizes that she’s been staring for far longer than what would be considered normal. Shaking her head, Akira tries to focus on the music she is playing.

She makes it halfway into My Little Brown Book by John Coltrane before she notices something feels wrong. Through her headphones it sounds like a smattering of high soprano notes that aren’t in the song, she’d know given how often she’s heard it. Lifting her headphones off her ears she can still hear the high pitches, although it’s much harder to hear, drowned by the white noise of Tokyo’s bustle. She repeats the process of lifting and lowering her headphones, listening for the noise that’s growing increasingly easier to hear with the headphones. She sets them in her bag, oblivious to the stares of people around her in the station.

_ Noise cancelling headphones only work when there’s consistent sounds, any noise that’s abrupt or too loud will leak through which means that the sound I’m hearing is…  _ Akira’s eyes widen, weaving her way to the front of the platform she peers down the tunnel and sure enough the sound gets louder. She checks the clock on her phone, the train is five minutes early. 

_ Trains in Japan are almost never off schedule, especially not without some prior warning… _ Akira looks back at the train and it’s still rapidly approaching the station. She sees an officer talking into his radio, peering at the light as well before rapidly backing away and warning other people to do the same. 

Akira starts to back up before she sees the other Shujin girl, still blissfully unaware of the coming danger, the cop must not have seen her or thought she’d move with him. Darting past the officer Akira sees sparks flying off the rails on the train. In a few quick bounds Akira reaches the girl, all but slamming into her.

“Wha- hey, watch where you’re go-!” The girl shouts, cut off as Akira drags them both back with as much force as she can. The other girl is too stunned to fight back and is taken to the floor with Akira. As their backs hit the tile the train explodes through the tunnel, the upper corner of the train rushing right where the girl’s head was a moment earlier. The two are showered with dust and debris as the train continues forward, crushing in on itself as it slowly loses momentum. Two of the cars unhitch entirely, spilling up into the middle of the station.

After a few minutes everything stops moving and the dust clouds finally begin to settle. Coughing heavily Akira tries to sit up, feeling a heavy weight on her chest. Looking down in a panic she’s relieved to see that the weight isn’t rubble, rather a head of chestnut brown hair. Akira gently puts her hands on the other girl’s shoulders, rustling her gently.

The girl groans, slowly lifting her head and looking about, processing what just happened. “My god…” she whispers in horror, rolling off Akira and sitting still. Akira sits as well, patting herself down before diving into her bags. Neither the headphones or the uniforms are damaged, much to her relief. Setting the bags down gently she turns to the other girl.

“H-hey, I’m sorry for being so rough with you but are you okay?” She’s met with the most red eyes she’s ever seen in her life as the other girl’s head swivels to look at her.

The other girl exhales “I’m not injured, thank you for pulling me out of the way. I’m sorry I forced you into that position though… I should’ve been paying more attention to my surroundings…” The teen looks down, ashamed.

Akira tries to laugh but it’s choked into a cough by the dust. “I think it’s fine, I don’t know about you but ‘runaway subway train’ wasn’t one of the things I was told to look out for when coming here.” She smiles when the other girl lifts her head and gives a small chuckle at the poorly timed joke.

“I suppose you do have a point” The girl stands as police and medical personnel flood the subway, Akira stands with her, dusting off her jacket and jeans. “We should leave, we don’t want to get in the way of the medical teams seeing as we’re not hurt.”

Nodding, Akira allows the other girl to drag her out of the station and into the open air of Station Square. The clean air feels like a boon as Akira leans against the outside wall of the station. The other girl stops squarely in front of her “My apologies for not introducing myself earlier, my name is Makoto Niijima, a third year at Shujin Academy, as well as its student council president. And you are?”

_ Well I guess that’s a no to having any classes together then…  _ “I’m Akira Kurusu, I’m also a Shujin Academy student! Er, well I will be… I just moved here from Shizuoka prefecture and I’m starting there tomorrow.” She rattles the bags on her shoulder “I was just about to go ho-.” Her voice catches in her throat.  _ Leblanc isn’t my home, that’s back in Shizuoka with Mom and Dad. I still have a home there, staying here is just temporary. _

“Just about to go where?” Niijima-san asks and suddenly Akira can feel the girl’s razor focus directed solely at her. It’s uncomfortable, like she’s back in the police station again before it abates. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me given that you just saved my life. Thank you again for doing so, but I have to get going now, sis will worry if I don’t call her soon.” 

Akira nods, the other girl walks away without another word. She watches Niijima-san go until the crowd of people swallows her. Sighing, she pulls out her phone and searches for alternate routes back to Yongen-Jaya.

***

Her new route home takes two transfers and an extra hour of time compared to the original route. The sun is clearly beginning to set by the time Akira steps through the door at Leblanc and she’s utterly exhausted, not having eaten for the entire day. The hunger is nothing new of course, she often only had a meal or two a day due to constantly working the shop with her parents but now it just made her ornery. The television is blaring on about the accident at the station. As the bell rings Sakura-san has an ugly look on his face as he rounds on her.

“I thought I told you to come back at a reasonable hour, what happened to all that respect huh?” 

Akira, tired from the day's events settles for pointing at the television “My train got derailed, had to find the right transfers.” Before moving to trudge up the stairs, bent on crashing onto her bed and passing out. 

Her guardian quickly moves from behind the bar and stops her. “Wait, you were in  _ that _ ? Jesus kid, sit down at the bar.” She sits at the bar and takes off her glasses, finally taking the time to wipe a majority of the dust off them. “You’re not hurt right?” He asks, stirring a pot of what smells like curry to her.

“No Sakura-san, I just got covered in dust mostly, we were lucky honestly.” 

He turns back to her with a full plate of curry and rice “Here, and we? You make a new friend or something?” 

She thinks back to Makoto Niijima, she didn’t seem like a bad person, just distant.  _ Then again I had ‘friends’ back in Shizuoka that I’d known for years, but they changed their tunes when word of the trial became public… would this girl be the same? _ “No, just someone I pulled out of the way at the station, she’s the student council president at Shujin as it turns out.”

Sakura-san nods approvingly “So you saved her yeah? You could use that as an in with the student council, certainly wouldn’t hurt being in that with a reputation like yours.”

“So I’m just supposed to guilt her into giving me a position? That’s a great way to go about doing things.” She clamps a hand over her mouth in shock. “I’m sorry Sakura-san, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Her guardian hardly blinks, settling for a smooth smile “Finally, sheesh I was wondering when you were going to drop the ‘little miss manners’ act with me. You and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next year, so just skip the hassle of being proper with me. And for the last time stop calling me Sakura-san, I’m getting more gray hairs every time you say it. Just call me Sojiro.”

“Yes Saku- I mean Sojiro.” It feels odd referring to a man so much older than her by his first name so quickly.

“Also you got it all wrong kid, you’re not guilting her into anything. It’s called networking, it’s a useful skill in the restaurant business. Oh I’ve got something to give you, before I forget.” He hands her a small black book. As she flips through the pages she finds that it’s all blank. “It’s a diary, you don’t have any real limits on what you can do. Besides following the law obviously, but as I have to report to your probation officer, it’d be easier for the both of us if you kept a log of everything you do.”

Akira stuffs the diary into her pocket and begins to eat. It’s one of the most delicious things she’s ever eaten in her life, it outstrips her family’s curry by miles, she involuntarily moans as she consumes it. Embarrassed by her own reactions she looks down at her empty plate wordlessly.

Sojiro takes the plate from her and quickly washes it, as he does so his phone begins to ring, he looks at the caller before quickly accepting it. “Hey there… nope things just ran a little long at the shop today, I’ll be over there in just a bit. See you soon.” He puts his phone away and turns to Akira. “I’m heading out for the night, do whatever you want for the rest of the night, but don’t go messing with the store. Anything goes missing and I’ll hand you over to the cops in an instant alright?” 

With that Sojiro flicks the lights out and leaves, Akira making her way up to her room and taking off her jacket, throwing it again on the couch. She sits next to it, pulling out her phone and texting her parents again, promising that she’s safe despite the subway incidents that have been occurring. 

The sound of an old fashioned telephone ringing gets Akira’s attention a few minutes later and she cautiously walks down the stairs, on the counter an old yellow rotary phone is ringing, she gently picks it up. “This is Leblanc, how may we help you?” She tries to copy her mother’s customer service voice.

“You’d better not be running the shop without me. That being said… seven out of ten, not enough pep in your voice.” Sojiro gripes.

Akira’s grip on the phone tightens in annoyance, wanting to get to sleep. “Did you need something Sojiro?” She asks politely.

“Yeah I did, I left the sign flipped to ‘open’ when I locked up. Go outside and flip it to ‘closed’ would you? I don’t want to have to go out and do it myself.”

Akira nods tiredly and the line is silent for a few seconds before she realizes Sojiro can’t actually see her. “I’ll do it, anything else you need me to do before I go to sleep?”

“No, that’d be it. You better actually be sleeping because I’m not going to make sure you wake up to get to school every day. With the station shut down you should probably get up a bit earlier too.”

Akira hums in acknowledgement and says goodbye. After hanging up she walks to the door and switches the sign. 

When she finally makes it upstairs she changes back into the still borrowed sleepwear, collapsing into bed she glances once more at her phone. Still no new messages but in a ritual that is becoming creepily normal she finds and once again deletes the red eyed app. 

Setting her phone down to charge she drifts off to sleep trying to memorize the trains she’ll have to take to get to Shujin tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said the chapters would be shorter in length... looks like I lied about that, whoops.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up, Akira feels well rested and it’s an alien feeling compared to the past week. No guilt ridden dreams of her Mom and Dad suffering due to her decisions, no sleepless nights debating morality, and most importantly no dreams involving Igor and his creepy warden children. She stretches, checking the clock on her phone and finding that she still has three hours before school starts. Changing into her new uniform she pulls at her skirt, still not quite used to its short length.

When she finally heads down the stairs she finds Sojiro waiting for her, with a plate of curry waiting for her. 

“So you’re actually gonna go to school huh? Well since you’re putting in the effort you can have this then.” He pushes the curry closer to her before turning to fiddle with the massive pot in the back. “Eat it quick, I want you out before customers start showing up.”

_Curry for breakfast as well? This cannot be healthy by any stretch of the imagination but hey, at least it’s damn good curry._ She digs in with gusto and finds that the curry is still just as good as last night’s. Actually taking a bit of time to taste it, she takes in the flavors and tries to sort what’s in it compared to the recipe her parents make.

_Well, the spices are all mostly standard… except for the cinnamon. And do I taste chocolate? I never would’ve thought about adding that to curry of all things._ Before long she’s finished the curry and Sojiro makes a shooing motion as he collects her plate.

“Get going now, with the accident I’m sure that the lines will be packed so you’ll want to get a head start to make sure you don’t get lost country girl. And flip the sign to open for me seeing as you’re by the door.” He calls from the sink.

“Yes Sojiro,” She bows lightly “Thank you for the meal.” She opens the door and flips the sign as it closes. Looking up she sees clouds forming overhead, sighing she quickly leaves Yongen-Jaya and starts for Shujin.

***

Sojiro was right, the trains are utterly packed with people and Akira feels like a sardine squished in between several students and the doors of the train. She nervously clutches her bag, neglecting to bring her headphones. _I wanted to make a good first impression so I figured I’d leave them in the attic, I’m an idiot and I immediately regret that decision. I hate this so much._ She stares enviously at a student who has a much cheaper set on his head, staring at some sort of handheld console.

Thankfully the clacking of the rails slows down and the group is soon let out into Shibuya Station. From there Akira manages to waste almost half an hour of her time looking for the Ginza line, the multiple signs, arrows, and lights doing nothing but serving as confusing red herrings on her search for the Ginza Line.

The next ride she takes is just as crowded and Akira’s mood tanks considerably as she listens to two coworkers complain about their jobs for fifteen minutes. To make matters worse it’s raining by the time the train reaches the station, forcing Akira to hide under the small awning of a shop to avoid getting soaked.

Pulling out her phone with an audible groan she enviously watches as two girls with umbrellas run past. _Damn it, of course it has to rain on my first day and of course I don’t even have an umbrella with me, this is becoming far too typical. Honestly the only way this could get worse is if that damned app appeared on my phone again._

Akira finally looks down at her screen, greeted by an enlarged red eye. _You have got to be kidding, it appeared solely because I didn’t want it to right? Alright then you little red nuisance, if you’re not gonna leave then let’s at least see what you do._

As Akira begins to futz with her phone, trying to figure out how the strange app works when a girl with large blonde pigtails sidles alongside her. 

“Phone troubles yeah? Hate it when that happens.” She remarks in a bored tone. Akira hums an absentminded response as she continues to tap at it. 

She cheers when the app finally expands, showing a recording menu with other features like ‘history’ and ‘begin navigation’. She immediately finds herself with another dilemma as the features activate “What the fuck does any of this actually mean?”

“You… don’t mean like in general do you? Because that is way too high concept for me today, like honestly I barely made it out of bed today.”

Akira looks up from her phone “Oh, um no. I was talking about this.” She shakes her phone lightly “there’s an app that’s…” She stops, realizing how insane ‘been reinstalling itself over and over on my phone to the point where I’m considering chucking it into the ocean and getting a new one’ sounds before lying “it’s just been on my phone for a long time and I’ve never looked at it so I’m trying to figure out what it does, with how crappy this weather is I thought now would be a fun time to try it.”

The other girl’s vibrant blue eyes snap to Akira’s “Something to wait out the rain, I get that. Still I don’t think it’ll pass anytime soon though.”

A silver car pulls up and the window rolls down, garnering the two teens attention. A man with curly black hair leans over the center console of the car and gives a friendly smile, “You want a ride to school? You’ll be late if you try making it on foot at this point.”

The blonde girl walks forward, accepting the offer politely before moving into the seat next to his. As she gets in, the driver looks back to Akira “How about you, you’re Shujin too right?”

She nods “I’m good thanks, I need to learn how to get to Shujin from here anyway.” Her phone begins to vibrate rapidly and when she looks down the background of the app is angrily pulsing red and black.

“Now why bother with something as tedious as that? Why don’t we just work out a little carpool arrangement instead, it’s so much easier than having to do all that walking, better for the environment too.”

_It’d only be better if I also had a car to drive… Is this guy some kind of idiot?_ “I’m sorry but the answer is still no, I really do have to learn to get around here.”

This only seems to spur the man on “Well then why don’t you come with us and we can show you around town, we know some fun spots don’t we, Ann?” He nudges her shoulder gently and she looks at Akira, her face completely at odds with her tone

“Yeah totally, there are loads of fun places to hang out here!” Her eyes flash for Akira to leave but before anyone has a chance to do anything a smattering of footsteps overtakes the conversation and suddenly a boy with blond hair jumps in front of Akira, throwing his arms out to shield her.

“Stay away from her you asshat!” The vulgar boy shouts, drawing the attention of others on the street.

“Tch. You know it’s not polite to interrupt people’s private conversations Sakamoto-kun.” He looks at Akira, who has sidestepped Sakamoto, looking at both of the men but not getting closer to the car “Fine, suit yourself then darling, just know that the guy you’re standing next to? He’s a real piece of work, worst of the worst really.”

The car pulls away with the boy still swearing at it even as the taillights are drowned under the rain. “God, fuck that perverted piece of shit. How he’s still a teacher is just complete bull!” He kicks at the sidewalk angrily.

“Perverted teacher? Shouldn’t we be worried about the girl that’s in the car?” Akira asks, already pulling up the number for the police, as much as she’s dreading making the call.

“Concept actualized” Her phone chirps, unbeknownst to the two teens.

The boy shakes his head “You mean Takamaki-san? Nah, she’s supposed to be going out with the creep, can you believe that shit?” 

_No, I honestly can’t. A student dating a teacher is wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin._ “Still, isn’t that illegal? How does the school even let him get away with something like that? He looks like he’s not even trying to hide it.”

The boy shakes his head “That’s just it, the school does know, hell everyone does. Nobody gives a shit because he’s the volleyball coach and he keeps them winning. Because of that everyone treats him like he’s the king of some fucking fort!” 

“King of the castle” Akira corrects automatically and the boy rounds on her angrily.

“Distortion found” The phone chirps again.

“What are you one of those snooty ‘intellectuals’ too? You think I’m some kinda idiot?” The boy prompts.

“No, it’s just how the saying goes, but you said he’s the volleyball coach, I thought he was a teacher?”

This mollifies the boy but he switches from angry to vexed. “You have to be a teacher to be a coach, come on we’re in the same year how do you not know this?”  
Exasperated Akira flings her arms in the air “I just got here pal, today’s my first day at Shujin, hell it’s literally my third day in Tokyo so of course I’m not gonna know what’s going on like you city folk.”

The boy winces slightly, scratching his head gently “Ah shit, that’s my bad. But yeah that asshole’s name is Suguru Kamoshida and he’s the gym teacher.” 

“Name recognized” Her phone chirps again.

He pauses before a crooked grin appears on his face “So newbie, want me to show you a shortcut to school? We’ll definitely still make it in time if we run.”

“I think I’d like that, I’m Akira Kurusu by the way, what’s your name?”  
The boy straightens out a bit, puffing his chest out and pointing a finger at himself “I’m Ryuji Sakamoto, second year at Shujin Academy.”

“Location set. All parameters met, beginning navigation” The digital voice says pleasantly.

“Come on, we gotta go!” And just like that Ryuji takes off into an alleyway, forcing Akira to sprint after him to keep up. Neither notice that the rain, much like everything else, has stopped.

***

Ryuji turns out to be reliable, less than five minutes after they set off they end up on the street where Shujin Academy is supposed to be. The two students stare dumbfounded at the sight that lies before them, because while the sign reads ‘Shujin Academy’, what’s in its place is most definitely not the school.

A massive castle looms in front of them, shrouded in a hazy purple mist. Torches flicker along the great stone walls. Trees reach just above the outermost walls and in front of them lies a lowered drawbridge over a moat. At the very top of the ramparts is a single lone tower that reaches high above the rest of the surrounding buildings.

“The sign says Shujin right? I can’t be dreamin’ about something like this.” The boy says, lightly slapping himself in the face.

“No that definitely says Shujin, and this is the street I was on yesterday so…?” She trails off, and Ryuji helpfully finds the proper words for her question.

“What the fuck is going on man?” He raps her shoulder with the back of his hand, waving ahead as he makes his way onto the drawbridge. Ryuji gets to the gate before Akira follows him in.

“So I said I’m new here and all, but I take it this _isn’t_ a city folk kind of thing?” Akira asks, twirling slowly as she walks, taking in the surrounding area.

Ryuji gives a sarcastic laugh “Oh yeah my bad, I forgot to mention that we sometimes like to replace our schools with castles, y’know, like you do when you live in the cities.” He stops at the massive doors in front of them. “Hey, so what are the chances that we go through the doors and it’s just the school?”  
Akira pulls her glasses off, wiping the rainwater from them “Getting closer and closer to zero by the second I’d say. This should be the right spot though, I memorized the address yesterday just to make sure I wouldn’t screw anything up. Where are we?”

Ryuji shrugs “Only one way to find out I guess.” He pushes through the door and Akira follows close behind, shaking rainwater out of her hair as soon as they’re in the building.

“I was right, this isn’t the school at all. Honestly Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Akira jokes, mostly just wanting to fill the oppressive silence of the great hall they find themselves in.

“Dude, I told you my name’s Ryuji, not ‘Toto’, and Kansas? Where even is that?” The boy gripes as he fishes out his phone.

Akira lamely shakes her head “I’m joking, it’s a reference to an old American film called ‘The Wizard of Oz’. It’s something the main chara-. Nevermind, it’s not important right now. Look at the size of this place though…” Akira drifts off before inhaling “Hello!” she shouts, listening to her echo parrot her throughout the room.

“Dude, what if there were people here?” Ryuji hisses, looking up from his phone.

Akira shrugs “Then we’d finally get some answers on what’s happening here, and quit calling me dude. Do I look like a guy to you?”

It’s the boy’s turn to shrug this time “Get with the times, dudes ain’t just guys. Girls can be dudes too y’know.”

Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings and candles burn in bronze sconces all around them. The checkered marble floor has a massive red velvet rug laid out across it. Painted glass windows color the light filtering through them, staining the tiles around them in a kaleidoscope.

A loud clanking captures Akira’s attention, drowning out Ryuji’s complaints about a lack of cell service. A knight in thick metal armor approaches, wearing a light blue mask of a face. Its shield is dented and Akira is unnerved by how sharp the sword really looks. It stops in front of them, not speaking or moving and she can feel its hollow gaze boring into them. She takes a cautionary step back.

Ryuji does the opposite, walking closer to it “Hey, I guess you were right, shouting was the right answer… hey, you a student?”

The armor does not respond, not even turning to face Ryuji directly. It maintains its position like a statue.

Ryuji takes this as a sign to get even closer to it, practically able to check his reflection against the polished shield. “Man this is one impressive costume. Is the armor real?”

“Ryuji…” Akira warns, darting forward and grabbing him by the jacket “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, we need to go.”

He shrugs her off “Nah it’s all good, see? This guy ain’t gonna hurt us.” He turns back to the knight and both students recoil to find that another has joined the first, both now steadily moving closer. “Okay nevermind, I see your point.” He mutters, moving alongside Akira. He puts on a sheepish smile “Sorry for wandering in here you guys, can see you’re real busy with stuff so my friend and I are just gonna get out of your hair now.” He leans toward Akira, whispering “Run!” 

The two turn, breaking into a sprint, barely making it a few feet before met with the hard shields of two more knights. The slam knocks Ryuji to the ground and staggers Akira back into the first two knights. Akira watches as a guard’s boot slams into the boy’s head, knocking him out cold. A second later she feels a shield bashing against her skull and all goes black.

***

The first thing Akira hears when she comes to is Ryuji calling her name. She groggily pulls herself up from the table she’d been passed out on.

“Hey, you doing alright?” The boy asks, hopeful. Akira nods as she dusts off her glasses, surprised to find them still intact. “Looks like this ain’t the school after all. Ugh, what the hell is going on here!?” He kicks the cobblestone floor weakly as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

Akira moans, scrunching her eyes shut as she feels a headache roaring to life. It’s immediately made worse by Ryuji, who decides to bang on the bars of the cell that they’re in. 

“Stop banging on the door Ryuji.” She groans before standing “We got into this mess because I decided to be noisy, what makes you think it’ll go any better if you do it?”

This gets him to stop pounding thankfully, she watches as he deflates “You’re right, but this is just too insane. I mean those guys were the real deal, and this cell? It ain’t some kinda movie set… it’s real and I’m freaking out over here!” 

She nods gently “I get that, believe me, we just have to keep calm and no-”

Akira’s interrupted by a scream echoing through the hall beyond their cell. Ryuji bolts to the door with Akira close behind, clutching her head in one hand. Several more follow and the two strain to see down the hall.

“What the hell was that? Are people getting tortured here or something?” Ryuji asks fearfully, face still mashed against the bars.

“I’d be more concerned about the fact that we might be next. Arrgh!” Akira grips her head as another wave of pain courses through her, powering through it she grits her teeth “We have to look for something to defend ourselves. Quick, before someone comes!”

The two scramble about the cell looking for anything that could help them escape. Ryuji finds a few loose planks of wood but the boards are damp and rotting, practically falling apart in his hands. Akira tries to rip the chains from the walls but they hold steady.

The familiar clinking of armor freezes the two in their tracks and soon two knights march into sight. They stop directly in front of the cage, the soulless depths of their eyes sending shivers up Akira’s spine. 

“Rejoice peasants, thy punishments hath been decided.” A voice resonates from within one of the suits. “Thou hast committed the sin of unlawful entry, the boy shall be put to death… the girl is to be taken to the King’s chambers.”

Ryuji backs away from the cell door “Death for unlawful entry? What the hell kinda place is this?”

_‘Taken to the king’s chambers’… oh god_. Akira is about to object before a massive spike of pain throbs from behind her temple, worse than any before. As she recovers she hears Ryuji call out someone’s name in shock. Looking up she sees the man from the car earlier, Kamoshida.

He’s not the same upon closer inspection, this one has an ugly smirk plastered across its face that the other didn’t and more importantly his eyes glow a luminescent gold. _Just like that other me I saw in Shibuya Crossing…_ Akira notes. It’s not long before she notices the most dominant aspect of this other Kamoshida however.

The scent of heavy cologne, jock sweat, and something else that Akira’s certain she doesn’t want to place hangs around the man like a cloud. As he gestures wildly to Ryuji she can see his coat open, revealing that the man has on nothing underneath but a thin pair of underwear that looks hideously bulged, as if they’re about to snap at any moment. 

_Hrgh… Don’t vomit, don’t vomit. Now is not the time to vomit._ She pleads with her stomach and mind as another wave of pain hits her, stronger and faster than it did previously. She falls to her knees, groaning in pain. Suddenly Kamoshida’s attention is directed at her, forgetting all about the boy he was mocking moments earlier.

“Well now, just what do we have here?” He drawls with lazy excitement. “Aren’t you just a sweet little piece now? Come on, show papa your face why don’t you, I wanna see just who I’m gonna be nailing later tonight.” 

Akira remains as she is, utterly wracked with pain and groaning weakly into her hands. Incensed at being ignored, Kamoshida orders for the doors to be opened, storming in and grabbing Akira by the jaw. The scent grows stronger, making her eyes water and the migraine excruciatingly worse. 

“Hmmmm… you certainly are a little cutie, could have bigger tits but hey.” He shrugs jovially, a wretched leer on his face. He moves to make her stand but is pushed away by Ryuji, who moves in front of Akira, raising his arms defensively.

Kamoshida’s leer morphs into a snarl “How dare you, you sniveling little brat! Daring to touch me, the king, is a death sentence! Guards, restrain the runt.”

Two of the knights drop their weapons and shields, each taking one of Ryuji’s arms and pinning him against the wall. He thrashes and struggles, stopped when Kamoshida rams a fist into his gut. Sinking in the guards grip he dry heaves and coughs as Kamoshida throws a hook against his face.

Akira’s vision is wavering now, two different visions overlapping on each other. Standing on unsteady legs she veers towards Ryuji and Kamoshida. Panting from exertion she puts one hand on Kamoshida’s shoulder to steady herself. As he turns in surprise she balls the other and lands a hit right in his eye.

The guards holding Ryuji immediately drop him, turning on her instead and pinning her against the opposing wall. “I guess little miss bitch doesn’t want to play huh? Well don’t you worry sweetheart I can break that bad behavior, turn you into a good little mare… and I think I know just how to start. Guard!” 

A third knight shambles into the cell obediently. “That little gutter shit… Take off his head, do it right in front of her. I want her to see what happens to those who oppose royalty.” The knight doesn’t hesitate, grabbing a disoriented Ryuji by his collar and hefting him to his knees.

As Akira cries out in protest a flash of dark overtakes her and a hazy blue butterfly flutters in front of her. “This is truly an unjust game, your chances of winning are almost none. However, if my voice can still reach you then victory is not yet out of sight.” A small voice whispers, barely noticeable above the chaos.

Another voice, deeper than before quickly follows “What’s the matter? Are you simply going to watch?” It mocks condescendingly “Forsaking the boy to save yourself are we? If you do nothing his head will most assuredly roll you know. Of course I have to ask, if you are to deny this boy his life… does that mean your previous decision was a mistake? That you should’ve merely played the ignorant passerby instead?”  
 _Everyone’s been telling me I made the wrong choice… That I’ve been an inconvenience and a nuisance. They’re right that I’ve caused trouble for everyone, but stopping someone else from getting preyed upon was worth it! If that makes me a fool then fine, I’ll be the biggest fool anyone’s ever seen!_

The disembodied voice’s laughter echoes throughout her mind “Very good! It is refreshing to find one with such a resolve! Now let us begin.”

The migraine returns with a vengeance, except now it has spread all over and Akira feels as if a pressure is trying to violently tear its way out of her body. With unfocused eyes she can see the guard’s glinting sword raised high, ready to strike down Ryuji.

“Vow to me” The voice returns with a gusto it lacked before “I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!” The pressure becomes more intense and constant, feeling like an inner skin expanding outwards. “Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!”  
The pain subsides, but the pressure remains, bubbling and roiling just beneath the surface and Akira feels fire in her gut. Turning to Kamoshida it thrashes, lashing against her chest “Hey Kamoshida, you want to fuck something? Try a hornet’s nest you pathetic excuse for a king!”

This gets his attention, turning away from Ryuji he glares at her “What did you just say to me? I am the king of this castle and I will not have my authority questioned!” He backhands her, knocking her glasses off and leaving her reeling, the guards release her and she falls to the ground. 

As he goes to strike her again the pressure under skin abates and a massive whirlwind blows everyone back. When she stands it feels like someone has poured acid over her face, it itches and burns but when Akira raises her hands to scratch it she finds a mask has attached itself to her. She fumbles with it for a moment, trying to find purchase. Pulling hard she feels her own skin come with it. _That doesn’t matter! None of it does, this damned thing has to come off now!”_

With a scream she rips it from her face, the blood feeling cool as it drips down her face. That fire she felt in her gut races through her body and she’s never known how freeing it could be. She smirks at Kamoshida who looks on in disgust and horror.

That fire soon consumes her, blue flames wrapping and coiling around her body. The disembodied voice’s laugh echoes throughout the chamber now, not just her mind. As the flames clear a massive demon in a mockery of a red gentleman’s suit stretches its wings. “Arsene!” Akira calls, not knowing where the name comes from, only that it’s right. The demon’s wings burst forth and a great wind throws Kamoshida against the opposite wall.

When she finally beholds the demon Akira falls silent in awe, it hovers next to her engulfed in fire and chains. “I am the pillager of twilight, Arsene! I am your rebel’s soul given form. If it is what you wish… I shall bestow upon you the power to break through this crisis.”

Akira nods and the flames that make up Arsene’s face seem to flicker in approval “Very well.” It says.

“Wh-who the hell are you!?” Kamoshida gasps before shaking his head “Doesn’t matter. Guards! Bring me their heads, no matter what it takes!” The guards don’t do anything for a moment, seemingly content to shudder in place until their armor collapses and a massive surge of blood coalesces above them, splattering out to reveal two floating jack o’ lanterns in witches costumes. Despite their cute appearance Akira can see rows of razor sharp teeth hidden in the pumpkins mouths and can feel the fire of their lanterns from the other end of the cell.

Arsene beckons her “As per our agreement, my power is yours! Use it to obliterate them, turn them to ash, return them back to the sea from whence they came!” It roars gleefully. _Okay psychopath… put your money where your mouth is._ Akira thinks as she raises her hand, unbidden thoughts come to mind, words in a language she doesn’t understand, visions of desiccation and destruction consolidate into a single word “Eiha!” Akira cries and a red-black pool forms under one of the pumpkins and tendrils fly out of it, enveloping the creature, she watches in morbid fascination as the energies suck the life out of the pumpkin. The color fading from its skin and the light that glows in its eye sockets fades until the whole thing breaks apart in a brittle dust.

_Holy shit, Arsene really wasn’t kidding about having power!_ Giddily she turns to see the other pumpkin flying at her. It sweeps past, slamming its lantern against her face before retreating to a safe distance. Grimacing, she tries to clench her fist only to find something blocking it. A knife rests in the palm of her hand. It’s a simple blade but the weight feels natural in her hands. A memory of playing at imaginary sword fighting with the yanagiba knife in the restaurant’s kitchen when her father wasn’t looking flashes briefly in her mind.

A cool smile finds its way onto her face as she jaunts forward. “Come on you little pipsqueak!” She taunts. Bouncing on the balls of her feet Akira ducks as she baits the creature into swinging at her. The lantern soars over her head and she drives the blade into its soft body, ripping it out in a wide arc before leaping back. The pumpkin shudders for a moment before dissolving into thin air like its twin.

Akira lets out a whooping cheer as the monster disappears before turning to check on an awestruck Ryuji who is still recovering against the wall of the cell. She helps him up as Kamoshida approaches them, but before she can do or say anything Ryuji tackles him to the ground.

A second later Akira yells “Grab the key!” before dashing out of the cell, Ryuji hot on her heels. Slamming the door shut, she holds it closed as Ryuji locks the door.

He turns to her as he pulls away from the cell door “What was that just now?” He asks bewildered.

“Damn you brats!” Kamoshida pounds angrily “Guards! Get down here and free me this instant… Guards!” 

Akira shakes her head and pulls Ryuji along by the shoulder “Later!” She calls as they break into a sprint, Ryuji throwing the keys into the river.

***

It’s a good distance before the pair are forced to stop, an upright drawbridge hindering their movement. With no guards on their tail the two take a moment to breath. Ryuji pants, now clearly favoring one leg. He leans on it as he props himself against a wall. “So… what the hell was that back there?”  
Akira shrugs loosely “I’ve got about as much of an idea as you do… I heard a voice in my head telling me to make a pact and then boom! Arsene shows up.” She rubs her cheek where Kamoshida had slapped her, it still stings but nowhere near as bad as it did before.

Ryuji looks like he’s mulling something over for a moment before he smiles “Arsene huh? Not the worst name for a Stand honestly.”  
... _Was that a Jojo’s reference?_ Akira chuckles, shaking her head lightly.

Ryuji joins in the laughing, somewhat indignantly adding “What else could it be? You literally have a spirit thing popping out of you, calling itself a manifestation of your soul, and giving you cool ass powers. That is literally what a Stand is!”

They stop laughing as she thinks about it “Oh my god Arsene really is a Stand.” She mutters, dumbfounded. 

Ryuji pushes himself off the wall and inspects the drawbridge. “Stand crap aside, how are we gonna get past this because that current looks too strong for anyone to try taking a dip.”

Just as Akira’s about to reply a high pitched voice calls out from their side “Hey! You two! I can hear you, you aren’t any of Kamoshida’s goons right?” The two exchange looks quickly, Akira’s concerned and Ryuji’s confused. They creep closer to the cell that the voice came from, as she peers around the corner Akira’s face scrunches in bewilderment as she beholds an empty cell.

“Ryuji… you heard a voice too right, it’s not just me?” She asks as she turns and looks around the empty hall.

He scratches his head “Yeah I definitely heard somebody say somethin’.” He raises his voice “Hey where are you? Quit messin’ around and come out!” 

“I _am_ not messing around you moron, I’m right here!” Akira looks down to see a cartoonishly disproportionate… thing waving its paw at the two of them. It’s black and blue with white splotches covering its body, particularly around its mouth, paws, and tail. On its head is a tightly stretched mask with coverings for the thing’s ears. It tugs at the yellow scarf around its neck as it hops up and down angrily.

“Come on, let me out already before the guards find out you’re here!” It yowls at them. Ryuji and Akira step back from the door in surprise as it continues. “You, frizzy haired lady! The keys to this cell are right over there” it points a stubby arm towards a hook that does in fact have a key on it “Open this door and get me out of here!”

Ryuji quickly interjects, pointing at it accusingly, “Wait a sec, how do we know this thing isn’t an enemy? It doesn’t look normal, it could be like those knight guys!”.

_Those ears and that tail…_ Akira stares at it while it bickers with Ryuji about whose side it's on. “Are you supposed to be a cat?”  
Those were the wrong words to say apparently as it drops its argument with Ryuji and rounds on her in an instant. “I’m _not_ a cat, I’m a human, say that again and I’ll make you regret it! My name is Morgana… I just lost my human form somehow, still human though!”

_‘I lost my human form but I’m still a human’? That’s… actually I don’t know how that works, I don’t know how any of this works!_ “So Morgana, do you know the way out of here?”  
The human in cat form nods eagerly “I do! Let me out and I can guide you two to the exit. I knew you had to have more brains than _numbskull_ over here.” 

Ryuji splutters irately before Akira quickly cuts him off with a sharp look “Even if he isn’t with us, ‘the enemy of our enemy’ right? Now stop antagonizing him and move so I can unlock the door!”

Dejectedly Ryuji shifts, muttering “Sorry.” as Akira rattles the key into the lock and pulls open the door.

Sauntering out the cat gives a mewl of appreciation “Ah, freedom tastes so great…” It makes a show of stretching “Being cooped up in there was so not comfortable.”

Akira sighs “Your turn to help out cat, quit playing around and help us get out of here.” 

Morgana gives them a nasty glare before Ryuji snaps “Yeah yeah, not a cat. We get it, now unless we all wanna get executed we gotta go now!” 

_He’s right._ Akira hears the telltale clank of armor by now. _We’ve wasted too much time with this. I hope this cat is worth it._ She turns to Morgana expectantly and gives him a pointed look.

The cat’s eyes widen and he quickly scampes to the raised drawbridge, Ryuji and Akira close on his heels. Pointing to the statue next to the drawbridge Morgana prods Akira “Let’s see if you’re as clever as you look, frizzy hair! Try and figure out how to lower the drawbridge.”

“Morgana.” Akira grits, looking about the hall for signs of guards “The deal was for _you_ to get us the hell out of here! Not play ‘test the girl’s intelligence’ so quit screwing around and help!”

The cat’s ears droop “Fine then, but you’ll have to do it because-” He jumps at the smiling statue several times, waving his paws in the air “I’m too short to reach it. It’s the mouth, pull it down like he’s laughing.”

Akira pushes down on the lower lip of the statue and sure enough like the slide of a trombone it smoothly sinks down into the stone replica of Kamoshida’s gaudy coat. Seconds later the drawbridge lowers in a loud series of clanks as the chains are moved.

Wincing she motions the other two across the bridge and they sprint across the bridge. Akira desperately tries to ignore how the wood feels rotten and squishy underneath her heel as they go. Not even a minute after crossing the bridge do they encounter the enemy, or more accurately Ryuji does.

Ramming face first into an unsuspecting guards shield he reels back in a panic “Shit! There’s another one of those guys!” In his panicked backpedalling he trips and Morgana leaps over him.

“Tch, you amateur, stand back and watch a pro at work… Come, Zorro!” From the cat a brilliant blue energy explodes and in an instant a figure roars to life above him. The figure wears mostly black, and like the cat himself is bizarrely proportioned with massive arms and comically thin legs. 

Zorro raises a razor thin rapier and quickly slashes a ‘Z’ in the air, and Akira watches the cat extract a curved sword almost as large as the cat itself from one of the pouches on its belt.

“Holy crap, the cat’s a Stand user too?” Ryuji gasps, still laying on the ground, propped up by his elbows.

_Ryuji’s right, I’ve got one of these things too. I’m not going to just sit back and be shown up by a cat!_ She reaches up to her face, finding that the mask has reappeared from before and tears it off. Arsene roars into existence a second later, hovering calmly behind her, his demon’s smile still flickering proudly.

Morgana looks at her approvingly “You have a Persona too? I was right to think you have promise after all!” 

Akira simply shakes her head “Praise later, fight now!”

The cat nods, his eyes fixed on the suit of armor which quickly morphs into two figures, one of the jack o’ lanterns she fought earlier and a pink imp with a massive horn growing from its crotch.

“I’ll show you my skill… Garu!” Suddenly a gust of wind tears past the trio and envelops the floating pumpkin, ripping its hide to shreds and turning it to dust in an instant. 

The other foe rushes Akira and she braces for the hit, but before it lands Arsene shifts in front of her, a horrible claw raised high. He brings it down, raking his hand along the entirety of the imp, shredding its skin and forcing it screeching back as it curls into itself. “Again Arsene!” she urges and the demon shoots forward and brings his claws down on its head, making short work of the enemy.

Arsene and Zorro quickly fade and Akira can feel her mask magically settle back onto her face. Morgana turns to her “That was impressive for someone who just unlocked their Persona. It’s also pretty powerful too.” 

“Persona?” Ryuji mutters “Oh you mean her Stand?” he snaps his fingers as he realizes what Morgana is referring to.

“Stand? No no no, the power that frizzy hair and I have is called Persona. Per-so-na! Got it? It’s a manifestation of a person’s rebel soul.” The cat corrects exasperatedly.

“Persona?” Akira tries the name out experimentally, looking down at Morgana “So you know about how all of this stuff works right?”

The cat preens “Yes! I am an expert on the Metaverse, but I can humble myself to share some insider information with an up and comer like yourself. You’re probably wondering about your outfit huh?”  
“Yeah I actu-. Wait what do you mean about my outfit!?” Looking down frantically Akira finds that her Shujin uniform is gone and in its place is something completely different. Gone are the leggings and skirt, replaced by a pair of thick black slacks. Instead of the sneakers she wore for school today are a pair of nearly knee high, cross laced boots. Her Shujin jacket has morphed into a trench coat that stops a few inches below her knees. Underneath is a dark grey waistcoat with two sets of buttons leading to an open collar. Completing the outfit is a set of blood red leather gloves that feel skin tight against her hands.

She inwardly breathes a sigh of relief. _It covers my arms… that’s good, but apart from that this is… really cool! Holy shit!_ She twirls around a bit, watching after her newly formed coattails like a dog with its tail. 

“What is this?” Akira asks, a smile on her face, it’s wiped off an instant later when the outfit disappears in a flash of blue and white flames, leaving her Shujin Uniform in its wake.

Morgana fixes her with a critical look “Hm. It looks like you can’t quite control your power yet, the transformation shouldn’t dissolve like that while still in a hostile palace.” He shrugs it off “It just means you’re still green. As for what that was, you know how I said a Persona is a manifestation of your rebel’s soul? Well in addition to that you also manifest an outfit that can protect against the negative effects of the Metaverse! The outfit takes the form of whatever you think a rebel looks like, so that fancy suit is what you think a rebellious person looks like.”  
Ryuji guffaws “You call _that_ rebellion? Dude, it looks like you’re getting dressed up to go to some sorta opera or something.”

Morgana shakes his head “Rebellion is an ideal unique to an individual, it just means you both have different ideas of what that is… not that you would understand it. But nevermind that, explanations aside we need to move on. Frizzy hair, take these.”

Akira bends down and accepts several balls wrapped in tissue paper from the cat, putting them into her bag.

“That medicine should help keep you alive when we fight, I’ve no doubt that we’ll meet more resistance on our way out.”

_I’ve now just accepted unknown drugs from a cat claiming to be a human, is this how my life is going to be from now on?_ Akira ponders as the trio set off.

They make it a total of twenty feet before Ryuji calls for them to stop, wandering over to a nearby prison cell. Akira’s about to call him back before she notices the boy in the cage, lying on the ground and struggling even to lift his head. 

“Holy shit… those clothes, that’s a Shujin gym uniform. This guy’s a student, Akira come help me get this gate open!”

She quickly moves to his side, searching for a set of keys. “How many people has Kamoshida taken here? Did you notice anyone else missing from school before?” She asks.

“That’s the freaky part! Nobody was missing during last semester… Did he take this guy here recently?” The boy says, frantically shaking the bars of the cage. In the cell the student still continues to struggle, not even acknowledging the people trying to get him out.

“Come on you two, stop wasting time with pointless things!” Morgana barks from the middle of the hall, not having moved an inch to help them.

“Pointless, so just leaving this guy here to rot is pointless?” Akira growls, now pulling on the cage with Ryuji.

Morgana sighs, rolling his eyes at the two “Yes it is, because that boy you’re so caught up in trying to help? He doesn’t exist, he’s a cognition of how Kamoshida views him.”

Akira stops and turns back to Morgana, bewildered “What do you mean he doesn’t exist? He’s literally lying there right in front of us!”

The cat sighs again “Simple, that boy is a cognitive being. The student it looks like is real, but the version you see in front of you is nothing more than an accurate fake that only exists in the Metaverse.”

This gets Ryuji to stop as well, following Akira as she walks back to the cat, kneeling down to his level “You keep talking about the ‘Metaverse’ like we should know what it is, what is it?” 

The cat shakes his head “It’s far too complex to talk about here… but if you follow me I’ll explain the basics of it along the way.

Ryuji looks back at the student in the cell uneasily and Akira looks at the student as well. “... I think we should go along with Morgana. We’re not safe here at the moment and we can’t do any good if we’re dead.” 

Somewhat mollified Ryuji follows the cat as they make their way forward, tossing backwards glances until the student is out of sight.

***

True to his word Morgana explains the workings of the Metaverse quietly as the group shuffles along, shushing Ryuji several times as the boy blurts questions loudly. Akira stays silent for the most part, taking in the information she’s given.

_So this whole castle is a sort of manifestation created by some twisted desire Kamoshida has, and the Kamoshida we met back in our cell was his subconscious self. That does beg a question though..._ “Morgana” She calls quietly as the group walks through the grand hall that her and Ryuji entered into when they arrived “These twisted desires you’re talking about, does a palace only form if the ruler of the palace acts on them? Could that student in the cell simply represent what Kamoshida wishes he could do to them?”

“No.” Akira turns in surprise as Ryuji answers her, a dour look on his face “No, Kamoshida’s definitely done shit like this before. I saw you takin’ a peek at my leg earlier, you noticed I was limpin’ yeah? Well that’s because that piece of shit broke my leg when I was still on the track team. I have no problem believing that he’s done shit like this before.”

Akira and Morgana stop and look at him in shock “And the teachers did nothing? The principle?” She asks in disbelief.

Ryuji scoffs “Of course not, Kamoshida’s a former Olympic athlete, won a gold medal and everything. He’s Shujin’s shining star and because of that they let him get away with whatever he wants. When I came back from the hospital the first thing that happened was I was dragged down to Kobayakawa’s office and punished.” He sourly stares at the massive portrait of Kamoshida beyond the staircase in front of them. 

“He just attacked you unprovoked? This guy’s more monstrous than I thought.” Morgana muses, rubbing his rounded chin in thought.

Ryuji rubs his neck in frustration “Not exactly, see when he started here I was a part of the track and field team. Not to brag or nothin’ but we were pretty good. The thing is Kamoshida wanted more resources for our school’s volleyball team so he started screwin’ us over. He made us work these garbage practice routines that left us vomiting our guts out more than anything else and a bunch of other stuff that didn’t help us. A lot of people left but me and a couple of others stayed on, I needed to get one of those sports scholarships so that I wouldn’t have to put so much strain on my mom. When he got the message we weren’t walkin’ away he started spreading rumors about us and sayin’ shit that wasn’t true. He said some pretty nasty shit about my mom and I just lost it, took a swing at him. I wasn’t thinkin’ right and it missed but he just got this look in his eye and smiled. Next thing I know I’m on the ground and that fucker is stomping on my knee.” He trails off, staring blankly at the painting.

“Even if you started it, that’s still excessive for a guy like him. It’s clear he feels he doesn’t have to care about the consequences of his actions.” Morgana says, wincing at the story.

_Sounds an awful lot like what happened to me, another asshole thinking that they own the world pushing down on a kid._ Akira thinks, giving Ryuji a sympathetic look. She coughs politely and gestures to Morgana. “You said the exit wasn’t far right? I don’t know about you two but the sooner we can get out of here the better.” Ryuji nods in agreement and Morgana quickly moves in front of the two, waving for them to follow.

***

Instead of leaving through the front door Morgana has the two sneaking out through a vent in a side room off of the main hall. He urges them forward saying “There’s still something I have to do.” The two thank the cat and rush back out onto the street in front of Shujin. The pair run away from the castle and don’t stop until they’re a good distance away.

“Palace exfiltration successful, welcome back to reality” Akira’s phone chirps, she pulls it from her bag, seeing that the red eyed app is still open, now with a single log in its history. 

“Reality?” Ryuji pants, looking at her phone “That means we got away right?”

Akira looks at the multitude of people around them going about their daily lives “I think so… I think we’re finally safe now.”

Ryuji relaxes and slumps his shoulders in relief, Akira following suit. The two stay there for a few minutes, simply catching their breath. 

“Excuse me, but you look like Shujin students. You wouldn’t happen to be cutting class now would you.” Akira turns and sees two officers, one standing and one having just gotten off a bike, staring down at them sternly. She feels her blood turn to ice as she freezes in panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Persona, now with 100% more Jojo's references.


	4. Chapter 4

_They’re going to arrest me again._

_They’ll find my record and I’ll be sent straight to jail._

_They’re going to arrest me, they’re going to take me away._ The thought pounds in her head like a drum as she clams up, going pale under their scrutiny.

Ryuji looks at them incredulously “Huh? No, we tried getting there but ended up in this completely different place! It was like some kinda castle.” 

The officers look at the two and Akira nearly begins shaking, she takes a deep breath, trying to keep the panic under control.

The officer with the bike turns to his partner “Is this kid on drugs?” the other officer shrugs and turns to Akira.

“Hey, you friends with this guy?” He calls tiredly.

She nods, trying to act as if she’s not terrified. “Yes sir, something like that.”

The officer raises a brow “Something like that huh? Well take your ‘friend’ and get back to class.”

The officer with the bike turns to his partner “We really should search the kid’s bag, he doesn’t sound like he’s all there.”

“He’s a kid making stupid excuses to get out of class, my four year old does the same thing when she’s trying to get out of trouble. Don’t try seeing things that aren’t there, now come on. Our shift ends in fifteen minutes and the wife will kill me if I stay late filing paperwork.” 

The bike officer gives the two a final once over before following his partner. Akira immediately grabs Ryuji by the jacket, ignoring his yelps of protest and pulling him in the direction they came from, not stopping until they are well out of sight of the police.

“Dude you okay? You’re lookin’ kinda pale over there.” Ryuji asks. 

Akira doesn’t answer, walking to the nearest trash can and vomiting, her arms shaking as they hold the lid open. After a few moments she wipes a bit of excess spit from her lips and sits down in front of the can with her head in her hands. 

“Damn it.” Akira pants, massaging her scalp in an attempt to calm herself down.

Ryuji squats down next to her, a concerned look on his face “Whoa that’s not good, screw those cops let’s get you home.” 

_Home… Shit what time is it?_ She frantically digs her phone out and checks the time, they’re already several hours late to classes. She lets her head bang against the trash can. “Sojiro is gonna be so pissed when I get back tonight.”

Ryuji shakes his head “Dude you just threw up in a trash can on the street, you clearly ain’t feelin’ so hot. Just go home and have your dad call the nurse.”

“Guardian.”  
Ryuji blinks “What?”

“Sojiro’s not my dad, he’s my legal guardian right now.”

This only makes the boy more confused “Wait, right now? So he wasn’t your guardian before or somethin’?”  
_I shouldn’t tell him, he’s the only person who’s been halfway decent to me here who isn’t a talking cat. Maybe I’ll tell him later but right now I just want a friend._ She waves him off weakly “It’s complicated, don’t ask.”

Thankfully he backs off “Okay, your guardian whatever, still you should go home today. Comin’ to school sick ain’t gonna help anyone.”

She stands on shaky legs, feeling her stomach lurch slightly as she does so “That’d be great if I had that luxury, but I don’t so it’s off to school for me. You coming or not?”

He looks at her like she’s grown a second head “Look I know you said not to pry so I won’t, but you keep sayin’ all this mysterious shit that really makes me wanna ask questions you know that right?”

She grimaces but walks towards Shujin, with Ryuji close to her side. “Sorry about that, but I’m more of a private person. I know it’s not fair to keep quiet after what you told me about Kamoshida back in that castle but I just…” She trails off helplessly.

The boy nods understandingly “No worries, I didn’t say anything because I wanted something out of it, and yeah I get not wanting to share. After shit went down with that bastard I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone for months, not those shitty counselors at school, not the doctors… not even my mom.”

As the school gate comes into view Ryuji sighs “Don’t worry about bein’ in trouble or nothin’, I’ve done this loads of times. They get pissy and chew you out but they send you to class right after. It’s just a pain to listen to them talk though.”

“Thanks for trying to cheer me up,” Akira mutters “but things are a little more complicated for me.”

The boy raises an eyebrow, a small grin on his lips “You keep goin’ on with that mysterious stuff again… at this point I’m just gonna go ahead and make up a backstory for you. I’m thinkin’... you’re actually an ex-yakuza princess bein’ forced to live a student life to avoid getting hunted down by a rival faction!”

Akira actually giggles at that “Yeah I’m ex-yakuza, you got me.”  
Ryuji stops and looks at her with wonderment “For real!?”

She shakes her head “Of course not, I’m a country girl remember? If there was ever a yakuza branch in Shizuoka they’d most likely be dealing in black market manufacturing equipment, that’s like the most boring business a yakuza could have behind farming.” Akira explains, laughing as she does so.

The laughter stops as the two stand in front of the school, which is now actually a school and not the castle they were sprinting from a mere twenty minutes earlier.

“Okay, first it’s a castle but now it’s back to bein’ our school… What the hell is happening right now?”

“Language young man! And I could ask the same thing of you.” A man with a snide tone and a dark grey suit asks as he walks into sight at the edge of the stairs.

 _Did this guy rehearse this? How long was he out here waiting for us?_ Akira thinks as the man continues his speech.

“We received a call from the police about two Shujin students out during classes.”

Akira looks down at her feet and tries to keep her breathing steady. Closing her eyes and focusing on that, ignoring Ryuji’s outburst.

“Still, it’s not like you to bring others down with you. What did you two do while you were out, where did you go?”

“Uh- a-a castle?” Ryuji responds weakly, scratching his head.

If Akira wasn’t fending off a second panic attack she’d almost find that funny.

“So you don’t want to give me an honest answer then?” The man looks like he’s about to start his totally not previously rehearsed speech before someone else cuts in.

“What’s this about a castle?” Kamoshida asks inquisitively, looking down at the two calmly.

Akira’s chest tightens and her hair stands on end. He’s not wearing a cape and underpants, rather gym sweats and a t-shirt with a bright red stopwatch bouncing against his chest with every step. She can smell the faint hint of his cologne from the bottom of the steps and it brings the nauseating scent the man had from the dungeon to the forefront of her mind. 

Akira shudders as Ryuji reacts in shock.

“You’re so carefree these days Sakamoto, it’s a real shame compared to your days of showing up early for morning practice with the track team.” He tuts disapprovingly.

Ryuji growls “It’s your fault that-”

He’s quickly cut off by the man in the suit, reprimanding him for being rude to Kamoshida. What manages to surprise Akira is Kamoshida telling the man to forgive Ryuji, taking some of the blame onto himself. The other man quickly backs down at Kamoshida’s insistence. 

As Ryuji follows the suit into the school Kamoshida turns on Akira and feels her skin prickle in revulsion, feeling the ghosts of his hands on her face.

“So, you weren’t lying about being new earlier.” 

“What do you mean Kamoshida-sensei?” She asks nervously, sincerely hoping that he doesn’t remember her summoning a demon or locking him in a prison cell.

“Earlier this morning? You said you wanted to find your way around because you were new right?” He shakes his head sadly “All this could’ve been avoided if you just got in the car with Takamaki-san and I. Now you’ve gone and gotten mixed up with Sakamoto, it’s not going to do you any favors you know?” Kamoshida heaves a heavy sigh and waves his hand like he’s clearing the air “I’ll overlook this just for today, if you want a ride to school in the future don’t be afraid to ask, I’ll always be willing to go the extra mile to help out students such as yourself.” 

He says it all with an easy smile, but Akira catches the implication. _He’s acting like he’s doing me a great favor by turning a blind eye… and the worst part is that he’s right. If he wanted it I’d be expelled for sure._ She shakes off the chill that washes over her, quickly making her way up the stairs, not meeting his eyes. Even after she passes him, the stare that follows her into the building doesn’t abate until she’s out of his sight.

 _This is the worst of it._ Akira tries to convince herself, _I’ll go meet with Kawakami-sensei and go to class, it’ll be normal, it’ll be fine, and I can finally have something normal in my life for once. Worst case scenario with Kamoshida is that I’ll just record whatever he tries and I’ll go to the principal._ Even as she continues her mental pep talk the words feel hollow, as much as she doesn’t want them to. 

When she finally arrives at the faculty office Akira quickly wipes down her glasses and paints on a smile, hoping confidence will win over the rest of the school.

***

It doesn’t, Kawakami-sensei is still cold and uncaring, complaining about how much of a burden Akira is, and lamenting how she’s stuck with such a problematic student. The real self esteem killer is her introduction, Akira barely gets seven words out before she hears the students whispering amongst themselves.

“She looks normal but I heard she deals drugs, she had to transfer because one of her customers died of an overdose.”  
“I heard that she hangs around bars and shakes people down for money.”

“She looks like a total psychopath, she’s probably got a knife in her bag to stab people that piss her off… Oh crap, did she hear us?”

The worst part about it is that the last rumor is actually true, when digging through her bag for a pencil and paper Akira nearly has a heart attack when she finds that the knife she had in that castle has made its way into the very bottom of her bag. She makes sure to keep it zipped shut for the entirety of the day.

To top it all off, the cherry on this shit sundae is Takamaki-san. Gone is the nice girl she met in the rain. In her place is another cold reception, just like everyone else she’s met today, the only exception being Ryuji Sakamoto.

She’s nervous when he asks to talk on the roof of the school, and her mind goes through the worst case scenarios. _He’s decided that I’m more trouble than I’m worth… at least he has the courtesy of being up front about it, unlike everyone else._

Despite Kawakami’s warnings Akira finds herself on the roof watching as Ryuji haphazardly attempts to balance himself on the back legs of a folding chair. As she timidly waves hello she isn’t greeted with a cold look or a derisive stare. Instead he drops the chair back onto its legs and beckons her over, a look of frustration etched onto his face.

“There you are, sorry for calling you up here like this.”

 _Here it comes, ‘I don’t want to get into any more trouble with the teachers, stay away from me.”_ Akira thinks as she stares at the desk blankly.

“I bet Kawakami said some shit like ‘Don’t get involved with him’, right?” He huffs.

Akira nods, still waiting for the axe to drop.

“We’re in the same boat then huh? I heard all the stuff people’ve been saying, about your criminal record and all that shit. Makes sense when I think about it, the way you kept your cool back at that castle.”  
_I was trying not to vomit throughout that whole ordeal, not that I succeeded anyway. Now come on, if you’re gonna cut me loose stop beating around the bush!_ Akira thinks, leaning against one of the nearby desks.

“Speaking of which, that _wasn’t_ a dream right? You remember all that crazy shit too?”  
“Yeah, kinda hard to forget honestly.” Akira mutters, still not wanting to meet Ryuji’s eyes.

Ryuji nods, leaning back on the hind legs of the chair again. “Still, it don’t mean much if just you and me remember it though. You still saved my ass back there though, and I never did thank you for it…” He trails off awkwardly “So yeah, thanks for saving me.”

Akira shakes her head “It wasn’t anything special, anyone else would’ve done the same.”

This earns a frown from Ryuji “Bullshit, you’ve seen the students here, and you have to have heard the shit they’ve been sayin’ about you. If anyone else was with me in that cell I would’ve been a goner by now.”

 _Wait, what’s going on, why aren’t you telling me to get lost?_ Akira turns and actually looks at Ryuji. He’s staring off into space, a pensive look on his face.

“That Kamoshida we saw over there though, I don’t think he was the same one as over here though. You’d think he would’ve been pissed with what we did to him and all, but he’s been the same annoying ass Kamoshida he’s always been. I just don’t get it!” The boy vents angrily.

He stands up, continuing “Forget it! It was a dream, it has to have been, none of this shit makes sense otherwise!” He quiets down a bit “Sorry to drag you out here like this, I just had to say that, have someone else who gets it you know?”

Akira nods appreciatively, _It is nice to have someone to talk to about stuff like this… wait a minute._ She begins rifling through her bag “Ryuji, hold on a sec!” 

The boy turns to her, confused as she closes the distance between them, using him as a shield obstructing the door to the school. Tentatively she brings out the knife she had in the metaverse, it’s a shiny plastic now, the killer edge it once held now nonexistent.

“I have never owned a knife before, especially not something like this. That means I got it when we went into the castle. Not to mention-” She shuffles around in the bag a bit more, pulling out the pellets that she had been given to her earlier “I still have the cat-drugs! You saw Morgana give these to me right? There’s no way I’d still have them if it was a dream. ”

Ryuji holds a hand over his mouth in awe “Holy shit you’re right. I totally saw that cat give those to you, but if everything we saw there is real does that mean Kamoshida’s beatin’ on other students too? Do you think we could go back to that castle to check it out- not today, but like after school tomorrow?”

 _That’s right, there were those ‘cognitions’ of other students too… if he really is hurting kids I can’t just sit back and let it go._ Akira nods “Yeah, that’d be best, there’s just one problem though; how do we even get back there? We don’t even know how we found the castle in the first place.”

Deflating, Ryuji sighs “Argh, I didn’t even think about that, sleep on it tonight and see if anything comes to you?” He suggests lamely.

“That sounds good to me, I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted… and I still have to go home and deal with Sojiro. That’s not going to be pleasant.” She grimaces.

As the two begin to leave the roof Akira’s surprised by Ryuji knocking his shoulder against hers, as she swivels to face him she sees an electric smirk has made its way onto his face “I know this is kinda sudden, but I feel like you and I are gonna get along just fine as ‘troublemakers’ here. I’ll come and get you tomorrow when school’s over, don’t ignore me alright?” 

As soon as he says it he’s gone, nearly skipping down the stairs as he goes. Akira on the other hand is stock still, staring at the door as it swings closed. _He actually wants to be friends with me, knowing my record!?_ The thought shines as bright as the sun and Akira can feel her eyes welling. She does a small dance alone on the roof in excitement and it takes a while before she feels composed enough to leave the roof and return home.

***

The floaty-happy balloon of emotion that carries Akira home is popped the moment she walks through Leblanc’s door. The second the bell rings her caretaker rounds on her as if it were the starting ring in a boxing match. From behind the bar Sojiro angrily wipes it down with a rag, glowering at Akira all the while.

“Got a call from the school, care to explain why you were _half a day_ late on the first day of school? Was this whole ‘respectful kid’ thing some kind of act or something?”

Akira bows slightly, giving a weak apology that even she knows isn’t adequate.. _I’m sorry for causing you trouble Sojiro and I’m even more sorry that I have to lie, but you wouldn’t believe me anyway._ She thinks as she raises her head to face him again.

As she thought it does little to mollify him “Yeah, are you sorry you didn’t go or sorry that you got caught? I thought you had your life put together but hell, you do realize something like that could’ve ended your probation right there right?”

Akira nods, gulping. _I’m aware… it means going back in a cell, this time for much, much longer than before. It means my life really would be over, and I’m sorry Sojiro but I think I have a much better grasp on that than you do._

“Do you? You said you knew what being on probation meant before and it’s clear that you didn’t know then. Do I have to read you the whole damn pamphlet for you to get the point or are you just going to ignore it and continue acting like a brat? I swear you really do act like-”

Sojiro’s stopped by a phone buzzing in his pocket, he pulls it out and Akira watches his entire demeanor shift in an instant. Gone are the angry lines on his forehead and the accusatory glare in his eyes, he becomes softer and quieter.

“Hey, what’s up?... Nope, I just closed up shop. I’ll be there in half an hour as promised… Yes I’ll bring it, it’s what you wanted right?”

He notices Akira’s curious stare and he rips the phone away from his ear, the rage from earlier returning. “What are you doing brat, get upstairs and go to bed!” He points at the stairs impatiently and Akira jumps, quickly doing as she’s told. “And don’t forget to turn everything off and lock the doors, got it?” He yells behind her as she hurries up the stairs. 

Akira heaves a sigh as she walks into her room, a thing that still feels wrong to say, and makes her way over to her bed, nearly tripping in the process. Looking down Akira sees a large box has been placed unceremoniously in the center of the attic, bending over to read the shipping address Akira begins to rip the tape off the box when she sees it’s a package from home.

Inside is a neatly stacked pile of her clothes and other necessities. Akira digs through it eagerly, fishing out a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt before changing into them. Just wearing something properly fitting and, more importantly, familiar has a calming effect on Akira. She tugs the box over to one of the shelves she’s cleaned and hefts the package into the open space, patting it gently as she stands.

From downstairs she hears the bell ring as Sojiro leaves the cafe, making sure to follow his instructions she properly locks everything and turns off the lights before heading back upstairs and collapsing onto her bed, wrenching the covers up to her chin and falling asleep.

***

It feels like seconds after she closes her eyes that she wakes again, not in bed but in that place called the Velvet Room. As she sits and rubs her eyes the cell door rattles violently, causing Akira to jump.

“On your feet! You’ve kept our master waiting long enough, you’re lucky he’s such a patient master!” Caroline barks, continuing to bash her baton against the cell door. The other girl, Justine, says something as well but it’s drowned out by the noise. 

Caroline finally stops when Akira is up and facing the center of the room. Warily peering out into the well lit center Akira finds that Igor is as he was the last time she was here. It doesn’t even look like he had left the desk at all.

“It seems that tonight is a night for celebration… not only for our reunion, but for the successful awakening of your power. With this the stage is set for us to finally, properly begin your rehabilitation.” Igor’s smile becomes impossibly wider as he stares down his nose at her.

“My powers… you mean my Persona thing? That’s the power you were talking about?” She asks. _You could’ve at least told me what powers I was supposed to awaken to at least._ Is what Akira thinks, trying not to make her glare so obvious.

She fails, Igor chuffing ever so lightly “Do not be upset Trickster… if I were to simply give you even the knowledge of how to awaken your persona it would not have been a true start to your rehabilitation. It would’ve been a dishonest attempt to bypass it, and I do so hate dishonesty.” He blinks several times, the smile never leaving his face “Back to the matter of your rehabilitation… you will be training the power of Persona…”

As Igor goes on about Personas, in far more accuracy and depth than Morgana had, Akira finds herself wishing she had a notepad or at least some chalk to scribble notes onto the walls of her cell. After he finishes explaining about Personas, the Metaverse Navigator, and her rehabilitation the klaxons sound and Akira is quickly dragged back into the inky blackness of sleep.

***

When she wakes up the dream all but fades from her memory, only a hazy swirl of words and ideas remaining. At first she thinks she was dreaming of games, the words ‘fate’ and ‘awakening’ being the first words that came to her when she awoke. 

Akira’s morning routine becomes more comfortable now that her wardrobe and other hygienic supplies are now with her in Tokyo. She sends her parents a text thanking them for sending her clothes to her and how her first day of school was pleasant. It wouldn’t be right to worry them with her problems after all. They still haven’t replied to her earlier messages.

Fully dressed in her uniform Akira gives a determined smile when she sees that she’s still early in her schedule. As she leaves the cafe Sojiro sends her off with an umbrella and another warning.

“I get one more call from the school about you skipping and we’re gonna have a problem, got it?” he threatens, pointing a finger at her. Akira nods, still frustrated that she can’t tell him why she was away from the school for so long. She flips the sign to open on her way out and flicks open her umbrella, walking out to the platform. 

She reaches into her bag as she walks, extracting her headphones and adjusts it snugly. As she’s stuffed into the car with several other students again the trip is much more manageable due to the fact that she can’t hear any of them. Some give her nervous looks as she clutches her bag to her chest but she chooses to stare out of the window rather than meet their gazes.

The second train Akira takes is thankfully less crowded, if only just a bit. She’s at least able to nab a handrail to grab as the train begins to move along. As Akira looks down she finds herself distracted by a burgundy head of hair tied together by a bright red bow, as she looks down she’s surprised to find it belongs to a Shujin student, the pins on her lapel signifying that she’s a first year.

Akira watches silently as the girl stands and says something that Akira can’t hear over her music to the old lady in front of her. The girl then shuffles to the side and leaves the seat open, before the old lady can take the seat the businessman next to Akira darts forward and takes the seat, bumping her aside in the process.

Taking off her headphones Akira catches the tail end of the girl’s conversation. “...speed. Excuse me… the seat was for this lady here.” The man spares her a glance before tucking his head into his chest and closing his eyes.

Akira watches as the old woman pats the student’s shoulder comfortingly. _That really is a mean thing to do…_ She coughs politely, getting the attention of the two. Akira’s music floats from her headphones and into the air, a cheery pop song quietly filling her immediate space. “Do you think we should wake him up, get him to move?”

The girl quickly shakes her head “It’s fine, I can understand where he’s coming from as well, my father works in an office and constantly comes home exhausted…” She turns back to the woman “I’m still sorry that he took your seat though.” The woman reassures her again and Akira puts her headphones back on, drowning out the rest of their conversation. 

The rest of Akira’s commute is quiet and uninterrupted until she steps out from the train into Aoyama-Itchome station. A small hand on her shoulder causes her to jump, whirling around to see the girl from earlier. Akira takes off her headphones with a skeptical look. 

The younger student has a sheepish blush on her face as she apologizes, bowing her head “I’m sorry for giving you a fright just now, but I realized I never thanked you for helping out earlier, and I wanted to do so now.” She gives another bow “Thank you so very much for earlier.”  
_What’s she talking about, ‘helping out earlier’? Wait, she means with that guy?_ “You’re joking right? I didn’t really do anything at all, nothing worth thanking me over at least… or bowing so could you please stop with that? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

The girl nearly bows again before apologizing once more “That wasn’t my intention, but you did speak up for me, which is something I appreciated. You’re also a student at Shujin Academy, a second year to be more precise correct? I’m a first year myself, and I didn’t want to seem rude to my senpai by forgetting to thank you.”

 _Senpai? That’s definitely not where I saw this going… I wonder how long that opinion will last?_ “Oh, well it’s no big deal really, like I said I didn’t actually _do_ anything so there’s nothing to thank me for.”

The girl smiles politely “Respectfully I disagree, but if you’ll excuse me I have to get to class.” and briskly walks towards the school.

Still extremely confused Akira puts her headphones back on, shrugging off the incident and following after her. She makes it on time, removing her headphones and stowing them away as she walks through the door. _No castle this time… I feel like I’m forgetting something important about that though. I’ll think about it later._

_***_

The second day goes much the same as the first. Teachers look down on her despite Akira being able to answer questions that other students can’t, and the students all but scramble to get out of her way in the halls. By the time the final period comes Akira sits dejectedly at her seat, staring at the bleak grey clouds that float past outside. When the bell finally lets them out Akira waits for the rest of the class to spill out before leaving. 

As she walks out of the room she sees Takamaki-san stopped by Kamoshida, a concerned look on his face. “I know you want to model, but don’t go working yourself to the bone… It could seriously affect your figure, you know? I’m just concerned for your health here, especially with that… what was it that you had? Appendicitis right?”

Takamaki-san shifts on her feet and even from the distance she’s at Akira can tell that the girl is nervous. “Yep, that’s it, I’ve been meaning to go to a hospital to get it checked out but I’ve just been so busy lately. Sorry that I’ve been worrying you about it all.”

The man grins “That’s fine, but if it’s so concerning how about I take you there right now? The volleyball team can manage on their own for a little bit so I’d be happy to run you over and get you checked out.” Akira shivers as she hears it, seeing the shadowy Kamoshida licking his lips in her mind. 

The blonde student takes a polite step back “I appreciate that but like I said I have a shoot, and I really should be going to it. I’ll see you tomorrow though Kamoshida-sensei!” She adds cheerily, making to walk away but Kamoshida steps closer.

“I do feel sorry though, separating you from your friend Shiho so often. She’s just such a hard worker you know, with a little encouragement I’m sure that she’ll be the star of the national competition.” He places a hand on her shoulder, a look of understanding on his face despite Takamaki-san’s obvious squirming.

 _This is clearly wrong, why isn’t anyone stepping forward to say something!_ Akira glances around the hall, seeing at two of her teachers and several students all within earshot of the pair. _Seriously!? No one’s going to do anything about this?_ Akira remembers the vow she made to Arsene the day before and quickly pulls out her notebook, flipping to the notes she took in class.

“Excuse me, Takamaki-san?” Akira calls, walking towards the pair, notebook at the ready “I was wondering if you’d let me see your notes from today? Ushimaru-sensei talked so quickly that I’m not sure that I got everything down correctly.”

The blonde flounders for a moment and Kamoshida turns his attention to Akira. For a single moment she can see an agitated snarl forming before it smooths out, morphing into a suave smirk. I see that you’re actually trying with those studies Akira-san! If you ever need any more additional help feel free to come and see me in my office. I’ve also heard that word has gotten out about your record,” Takamaki-san stiffens beside her “I’m sure that living with a weight like that must be hard so if you ever feel the need to destress or need someone to talk to my door is always open for those who need guidance.”

Akira puts on a fake smile and thanks him before beckoning for Takamaki-san to follow her to a nearby table. Thankfully Kamoshida doesn’t hang around, Akira catches him throwing another dark look her way before he walks off, leaving the two girls alone.

The blonde gives her an uneasy look “So what was it you needed for the notes? Mine aren’t the greatest but it should be enough to help out.” She peers down at Akira’s notes, immediately gasping in shock as she looks back up at Akira “What the hell! Did you copy down everything he said or something!?” Akira nods sheepishly.

Having always been pushed by her parents to excel in school Akira’s notetaking and study habit were top notch, listening to the teachers here drone on at the pace that they did was child’s play for her to keep up with the class, she’d even started reading ahead in the textbooks during most of the classes.

“What were you calling me out just to make fun of me here or something? No one likes a show off you know.” Takamaki-san glares at her as she thrusts her own notes back into her bag.

 _Wait, that wasn’t my intention…_ “I’m sorry!” She calls out as Takamaki-san starts to walk away. Akira moves in closer so that others can’t overhear them “You just looked really uncomfortable back there with Kamoshida-sensei and I wanted to help out without making a scene.”

This gets the blonde to scoff “Oh, so you were just sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong huh? That’s even _worse_. Just stay away from me okay? It’s bad enough that I have to sit in front of you in class.” With that she turns on her heel and marches away from Akira.

 _So she hates me like everyone else, figures… I got her away from Kamoshida though so… silver linings right?_ She thinks to herself somewhat dejectedly before remembering _That’s right, Ryuji wanted to meet up again today to go and explore that castle again. He said he’s a second year as well, so maybe he’s still hanging around this floor?_

She wanders back and forth down the hall trying to find him, the rumors and whispers growing increasingly louder as she does so.

“Is she pacing back and forth because she wants to kill someone?”

“Maybe she’s looking for people to sell drugs to.”  
“I saw her talking to Takamaki-san and Kamoshida-sensei… maybe she’s trying to get Kamoshida-sensei to dump Takamaki-san and date her?”

Akira wants to laugh and cry at the same time. _That is the absolute last thing I want ever, if only you knew just how repulsive he really is._ She thinks as she continues to search for Ryuji. She’s interrupted by a teacher approaching her and grilling her as to why she’s hanging around in the halls after school. Despite saying she’s looking for a friend she’s met with a skeptical look and told to either do something productive, like studying, or leave the school and go home. 

Seeing how everyone looks at her, Akira chooses to leave, trudging out of Shujin’s main doors and down the steps. She’s surprised to find Ryuji leaning against one of the gates as she leaves, he spots her and immediately walks up.

“Dude what took you so long, I’ve been waitin’ here for like twenty minutes. I thought you’d ditched me or somethin’.” 

Akira laughs, slapping her palm against her forehead “I was looking for you up on the second floor, I thought you might’ve ditched me!”

Ryuji gapes for a moment before doing the same “So we were just waiting for each other the entire time? Damn, I think that’s my bad though seein’ as I’m the one who asked you to do this after all.”

Waving him off gently Akira sighs, the looks and whispers sucked but it was better now that she was here. “It’s fine really, about the whole castle thing… I think I might know what it was that got us in there.”

Ryuji lights up “For real? That’s awesome, so what is it?” 

Akira pulls her phone out of her bag and shows him the red eyed app, _Metaverse Navigator_ her mind fills in as she opens it. “This has been on my phone ever since I came to Tokyo and I’ve been seeing a bunch of weird stuff ever since I noticed it. Like I’ve seen Arsene before that castle, I saw him in Shibuya Crossing when I first came here. Everything stopped around me and he was just staring at me across the street before everything returned to normal. This has to be the key to it.”

The boy plucks the phone from her hands and fiddles with the app “Hey, you’re right! Look right here in your history, it says ‘Pervert Castle’, that’s gotta be where we were at yesterday!” Quickly thumbing the ‘start navigation button’ he lets out a sigh of disappointment when nothing happens. “Ah damn, I seriously thought that was gonna be it. Sorry for grabbin’ your phone like that, just got so excited.” 

He tries to hand the phone back to Akira but she’s no longer paying attention to him, instead she watches as the school shifts and before her eyes is replaced by the castle they saw the day before. It looms over them yet again in all its eery majesty. “I think it worked.” She mutters in awe, looking around the block, seeing that there’s no one else in sight.

“No kidding, well no point in standi-whoa!” Ryuji takes a step away from Akira “That getup is back too!”

Reaching up to her face she can feel the mask on her face itching to be torn free, she stuffs her hands into the pockets of her new coat to distract herself from it, feeling the weight of her knife in the pocket as well. “Well now that we’re here… What is it you wanted to see in the castle?”

Ryuji nods, growing serious “Well you know how that cat said that the students here are how Kamoshida sees them in reality, if I can find proof that he’s abusing kids we might be able to get him arrested… or at least thrown out of the school. Anything to take that bastard down.”

Akira thinks for a moment, “Morgana did say that. Maybe we can also see who he’s abusing, if there are any students you recognize from school here we could start by questioning them first?”

The two make their way towards the ventilation shaft they escaped from. “Yeah that’s a good idea, I’ll use my phone and get pictures of ‘em so that we don’t forget!”

Agreeing that the idea behind their plan was sound the two begin to enter the castle, only to be stopped by a familiar cat at the vent. “Stop making a commotion, you’re riling up the shadows! Why would you come back to a place that nearly killed you?”

Akira waves “I’m glad to see you’re doing alright Morgana, we’re here because we want to investigate Kamoshida’s abuses against students. Is there any chance you’d be able to help us out with that?”

The cat gives her a smile “Proper as always Frizzy Hair, I appreciate that! I think I can help you with that, I was exploring the dungeons and I found more students… if you follow me, and the moron over there keeps _quiet_ then I think we should be safe.”

“Who are you callin’ a moron cat!?” Ryuji thunders angrily, almost immediately proving the cat right, something Morgana doesn’t hesitate to point out, which only incenses the boy further.

“Guys, guys!” Akira pleads in a hushed voice “We came here to help people, not yell at each other… let’s all just get along, at least until we finish what we came here to do.” The two look at each other suspiciously as they mull the words over. Akira pinches the bridge of her nose, or rather the mask in front of it irritatedly “Morgana, Ryuji’s not an idiot you just happen to be talking about things that most people have never dealt with before, I know I’ve never infiltrated a castle filled with demonic abominations controlled by the subconscious of a person with twisted desires before. You need to be a little more reasonable in your expectations.” 

The cat looks away and Ryuji grins before Akira turns to him “Ryuji, Morgana is, at least partially, right. You need to keep a cool head, if we get caught here Kamoshida isn’t going to throw us in a cell again he’s going to try and murder us. We have to play this smart, can you do that?” 

Ryuji nods and Akira smiles hopefully “Okay, so friends? At least for now?” 

Morgana sighs in dramatic exasperation “I suppose I could be a bit more understanding of your situation… and a little less harsh. But you still need to be quiet!” He points an accusatory paw at Ryuji and for a moment she thinks he’ll take the bait.

Ryuji doesn’t, kneeling down and extending a hand to Morgana “You both got a point I guess, just don't be such an asshole about this shit okay?” The cat takes his hand, or rather puts his paw in Ryuji’s palm? Akira has to resist the urge to giggle at the absurd sight of Ryuji and Morgana shaking hands like it’s an important business deal of some kind.

“Well, now that that’s all handled, why don’t you show us what you found in the castle Morgana?” Akira asks, hoping to move the two along, feeling awkward and on edge standing outside the castle. The three set out, climbing back into the castle they had so willingly sprinted away from before.

  
  


***

Makoto Niijima’s life is a routine, but it’s not monotonous to her in any capacity. Rather, the rigid backbone of it allows her to pursue her studies with a rigorous and nearly dogged focus. 

6:00 AM, get up and shower. 6:30 AM, make bed, get dressed, and start making breakfast. By 7:00 AM she’s on the trains bound for Shujin Academy. At 7:30 AM the student council has a brief morning meeting to go over the previous day as well as lay out the schedule and create a list of things that need to be done for the current day. At 8:30 AM she’s in classes and it stays that way until 3:15 PM when school ends. From there she either studies in the library or attends to student council duties until 5:00 PM. After that she goes shopping for dinner supplies, always making sure that dinner is started by 6:30 PM and ready by 7:30 PM for herself and her big sister Sae, if she would be joining Makoto for dinner. From there it was studying until 10:00 PM, when she would go to sleep and wake up at 6:00 AM to repeat the process. 

This had been her life for the past three years of attending Shujin Academy, with some minor shifts and changes to allow for things like student council and the responsibilities of being president. It suits her well, removing the need for unnecessary thought throughout her day. She has her studies and that’s enough, everything else falls into a tidy box in her life, there is good, there is bad, there is productive and unproductive, useful and useless. Nothing is out of place for Makoto

In accordance with her schedule she’s studying in the library, today’s focus being calculus. The quiet chatter of the library is nothing more than murmurs in the background of her mind, the focus she’s achieved forming a barrier against the noise. Page after page of practice problems and equations are completed at a good consistent pace.

It takes her a few moments to register that the noise in the library has stopped, and that everyone is looking at her. It takes another moment to realize that someone is calling her name, turning around Makoto is surprised to see that Kawakami-sensei is standing behind her, rubbing her eyes and exhaustion and very clearly agitated.

“Niijima-san, if you’d follow me into the faculty office there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” 

Makoto begins to pack her things “Yes Kawakami-sensei, I’ll be there-” As Makoto turns around she finds that Kawakami-sensei has already made her way out of the library. Following the teacher quickly, Kawakami leads her into the faculty office and over to her desk.

 _It’s a mess, it would be more befitting of a teacher if you were to clean it more frequently_. She thinks as the teacher slumps into her seat, pulling a file from the chaos of her desk and plopping it open in front of Makoto.

“You’ve no doubt heard about our newest resident troublemaker by now haven’t you?” Kawakami asks tiredly, tapping the picture of the girl in question.

_Akira Kurusu, second year here, showed up half a day late to her first day of school, combined with her record of being violent. She's a poor student and has made a bad impression on other students, many voicing their concerns over her nature and attitude… she also saved me from the incident with the train two days ago. She didn’t seem to be a cruel person. Kurusu-san didn’t mention why she was transferring however and dodged talking about where she was going. Hm._

“Earth to Niijima-san? Are you listening, her name is-” Kawakami-sensei continues, now frustrated.

“Her name is Akira Kurusu, and yes I know of her. I actually met her two days ago, why do you ask?” 

Kawakami-sensei raises a brow but doesn’t push her, instead moving along with her request. “Right. Well, the thing is that principle Kobayakawa has asked that I keep a close eye on Kurusu-san’s grades and ensure that she succeeds, he wants to be able to show her off as ‘an example of Shujin’s ability to create shining students’, and he’s putting all that pressure on me… it’s such a pain.”

Makoto shuffles her feet somewhat awkwardly “I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing my function in all of this Kawakami-sensei, why did you call me here?” She asks politely, keeping a mental timer of the study time she’s missing.

“Oh, right… that, well I don’t have the time to tutor students individually, especially as it would be unfair to give such a delinquent student so much more attention than the other students so I was wondering if you could tutor Kurusu-san for me. It doesn’t have to be for the entire year, just make sure she doesn’t fail the first set of exams please? I’ll put in a good word with Kobayakawa about getting you a letter of recommendation if you do it?” 

Makoto’s eyes widen “That… is certainly an enticing offer…” She trails off as she thinks. _While it’s highly probable that I’ll get it anyway, the larger chance I have the better. It will look good on a college submission form to say that I tutored another student too. It’s only until the first set of exams, which is only about a month away as well._ “And if she causes any problems or tries anything?” Makoto questions cautiously.

Kawakami shakes her head, making an ‘x’ with her arms “If she does anything that violates school policy or makes you feel that you are in danger come straight to me and she’ll be expelled, simple as that.”

Makoto nods, by all means it’s an easy deal to make with how much she’ll be getting out of it. “Okay I’ll do it. I’d like to iron out the details of the arrangement with Akira herself, if that’s alright with you?”

Kawakami’s exhaustion seems to vanish as she smiles “Oh absolutely! How about you stop by Thursday after school? I’ll make sure she stays late for you.”

Makoto bows her head in thanks “Okay, I have to get back to studying but I will meet with Akira this Thursday then.”

Kawakami quickly begins packing things into her bag to leave, throwing a “Thank you for your time.” over her shoulder as Makoto leaves the faculty office and goes back into the library, frowning as she sees her previous spot has already been taken.

 _Akira Kurusu… it shouldn’t be too difficult to get her to study. How much trouble could she really get into? Either way, I'll have to readjust my routine to work around her._ Makoto thinks as she resigns herself to sitting in one of the cramped student booths, reopening her calculus books and trying to reestablish her focus, the girl with shaggy black hair and lead grey eyes still plaguing her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, next week's update may come late on account of my parents coming up to visit me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely sorry for the delay folks! Work picked up and absolutely killed my energy to do anything for the past week. I'd like to thank the person who asked for me to give a concrete description of Akira seeing I didn't even realize that I forgot to do so in chapter one. If you don't feel like rereading that however, she's extremely similar to the main game's protagonist, taller (think a little taller than Sae) , with grey eyes, and wild black hair that reaches down to her shoulders

“Ryuji?” Akira asks innocently, staring at the ‘gift’ that the boy has unceremoniously dropped in her hands, “Where and how did you get a  _ gun _ ?”

The infiltration of Kamoshida’s castle, the proper term being ‘palace’ according to Morgana, had been going well. They’d managed to remain out of sight of most of the guards, ambushing those they had to. 

Currently hiding in what Morgana referred to as a ‘safe room’ Akira looks at Ryuji who shrugs “Hey it’s not like it’s real, but it’s convincing right? I figured if push comes to shove you could use it to hold some guys up, y’know intimidate them into doin’ all sorts of shit!”

Akira hefts the pistol experimentally, the heavy weight of steel unmistakable “This thing’s a fake?”  
The boy nods happily “Yeah there’s a killer shop off Central Street in Shibuya that sells these super real lookin’ models. It’s cool right? It’s not real though, the guy at the counter showed me some of the stuff. That place where the bullets go? That’s all one solid block in the models, somethin’ about ‘national laws’ that the guy has to follow.”

Morgana stands on the table and squints at the pistol, “You’ve actually done something useful Blondie… accidentally at least.” He digs his paws into his utility belt and pulls out an oversized slingshot, “I can use this against shadows because they believe that it’s deadly, their cognitions give it power, and a fake gun like that? It’ll no doubt be powerful against them, check to see how many bullets it has!”

Akira looks down at the pistol again, fiddling with the buttons and switches on it until she presses down on one and hears a ‘click’ as the magazine of the pistol is ejected and she fumbles to catch it. In it is eight shiny golden bullets, glinting in the firelight. She nearly drops the pistol in shock “This is a gun, holy crap this is an actual gun! Ryuji you’ve been walking around school with this all day!?”

He waves her off as he gets closer, an awed look on his face “I had it at the bottom of my bag so relax, no one saw it. And it definitely wasn’t doing  _ that _ this morning! Holy crap though,” He breaks off in giddy chuckles “That’s the coolest damn thing! So Morgana, you said that this’d work against shadows right?”

Morgana nods “Yes, as I just said it’ll function like an actual gun so it can hurt them like anything else Frizzy Hair and I use.”

“Guys, there’s kinda one big problem with this that I think you’re forgetting.” Akira says nervously, she waves the pistol about as the cat and boy cock their heads in confusion “I’ve never actually used a gun before in my entire life?”

As she says this her finger slips from where it’s resting on the trigger guard over the trigger itself and a loud bang reverberates throughout the room as a bullet imbeds itself in the brick walls behind the group. The recoil nearly rips the gun from Akira’s grip as the three instinctively duck to protect themselves. She quickly drops the pistol on the table, backing away with her arms raised. “See! I don’t know how to use one of those things safely, it’s too dangerous!”

The group stares at the smoking hole in the wall as Morgana pipes up “Okay… maybe we need to have a little practice time with it to make sure nobody gets hurt, all the more reason to test it out against shadows then right? At least now we know that you shouldn’t have the gun out when we’re in a safe room so that’s something right?”

Akira nods, still slightly shaking from fear and shock. She gingerly picks the gun up by the handle, grasping it between her thumb and pointer finger.  _ Okay, this is definitely not the greatest idea to just put this in my pocket.  _ She turns to Ryuji, “Did this thing come with some kind of carrier? In the movies people always have some kind of thing that they put guns like this in.”

Frowning the boy digs around in his bag for a moment “... Nah, didn’t get anything like that, all it came with was this thing but seeing as the gun’s a fake it’s pretty much useless.” He pulls out a small pamphlet and hands it to her.

Setting the gun on the table, Akira flips through the small book, Morgana craning his neck to see it as well from his spot on the table. “Ryuji, this is a manual explaining the actual parts of the gun and how they would work if the gun was real.”

“Yeah, like I said it’s kinda worthless seeing as the gun’s a model though right?.” He says, scratching his head at the two.

Morgana simply points at the new hole in the brick wall “The gun is real  _ here _ ! You should’ve led with this first!” 

The two begin to argue as Akira continues reading about the gun, apparently called the ‘Norinco Type 54’. In the pamphlet there are several diagrams with paragraphs beneath them, explaining what the gun’s features are and how they would work on a real version. When Akira gets to the section labeled ‘Safety Mechanism’ she studies it intently before picking up the gun again.

Morgana and Ryuji go silent, turning to watch as she gently flicks the switch for the safety to stop the gun from firing. With a much firmer grasp on the grip than before she opens the door to the safe room and aims the gun blindly into the hall. She braces herself, scrunching her eyes tight and stiffening her shoulders as she squeezes the trigger slowly. 

She’s met with resistance, the trigger not pulling back, stuck firmly in place. Satisfied, Akira brings the pistol back into the room and closes the door. Turning to the other two she tucks the pistol uneasily into her jacket pocket, “Okay, I think we need a new rule while we’re here, that rule being no more guns. I’ll hold on to this one seeing as it’s already here, but I don’t feel comfortable having more of them along, it’s just too dangerous.”

Ryuji all but squawks in protest, “Hey the cat said it’d help out against those shadow things! Besides, what if I need something to protect myself?” He motions for Akira to hand the pistol over to him.

The cat shakes his head disdainfully “You didn’t even think about reading the manual of how the gun works! If anyone here shouldn’t have a gun it’s  _ you _ ! ”

Before the two can start again Akira cuts them off, “Guys, you promised you wouldn’t do this!” They look away from each other guiltily and Akira opens the door to the safe room, motioning for them to exit “We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover and we won’t do it from in here so let’s get moving, please?”

Guilty, and still a touch sour Ryuji walks out first, muttering a ‘sorry’ as he passes and Morgana marches behind him without a word.

The group continues mostly in silence for a while, nothing more than the occasional battle cry whenever they ambush a guard. It settles into a clean routine between Morgana and Akira, each doing their best to compliment the other and make up for their weaknesses during a fight. They soon discover that the shadows tend to drop yen as well and Akira collects it with a mix of giddiness and unease. 

_ It’s not blood money, it’s just money that I got from killing demons… totally different. Not to mention this is a lot of money, a little over two hundred yen? This is almost as much as my weekly allowance, letting it just lie here would be an absolute waste! _ Akira attempts to reason with herself.

When Ryuji asks why she’s staring at the coins in her hand she quickly pockets them and shakes her head, choosing to comment on the oddity of shadows having money, not wanting to share her turmoil about how they had acquired the cash. Morgana thankfully steps in and provides a lengthy explanation about how the belief that one should always have money in some form or another on them at all times is something that the shadows inherited from humans. The group gradually reaches social equilibrium after that, the awkward silence and tension mostly fading.

It doesn’t take much longer for the group to reach the dungeons Morgana had talked about, a banner reading “Kamoshida’s Training Hall of Love” raised above the door. Ryuji snorts “This has gotta be the place ‘love’ my ass though.”

As they enter the dungeons they are met with what could be described as a macabre symphony of screams, moans, and cries of pain. The Shujin students stiffening in place as Morgana saunters into the hall, looking at the two expectantly when they don’t follow him.

“Right, not real… just cognitions, none of them are actually getting tortured. It’s just how Kamoshida views them, it’s all just distortions.” Akira says to Ryuji who nods, taking a deep breath while bouncing on his heels, obviously psyching himself up to go down into the dungeon proper.

When the two finally have the courage to follow Morgana they’re not prepared for what they find. Dozens of boys in Shujin gym uniforms have been crowded into large cells, forced into almost comically medieval punishments. One group is forced to stand against volleyball nets while the palace’s shadowy guards slam sticks against the backs of the students repeatedly. Akira winces as she hears the sound of wood slapping against flesh. A boy falls under the pain and he is quickly grabbed by the nape of his neck and hauled back to his feet so that the beatings can continue.

Akira stares at the sight before her, unable to turn away at the brutality of it all. Ryuji darts away from her, checking every cell and swearing all along the way. 

“This is beyond horrible,” Akira rasps out quietly “Even if this is just inside Kamoshida’s head… how could someone even think about doing this to anyone?”

Morgana taps on her shin, drawing her attention “I don’t know Frizzy Hair, but what I do know is that if Kamoshida sees the students in here like this… like slaves, then he most likely treats them similarly in the real world as well. Either way, we can’t stay here for long, round up Blondie. I think we should leave before any shadows in the area notice our presence.”

Casting one last look at the boys getting beaten at the net Akira winces sympathetically, real or not it was utterly abhorrent to witness. The sight only grows worse as Akira jogs down the hall to where Ryuji appears to be arguing with someone. As she goes she passes several chambers all with different bizarre forms of torture involving volleyball equipment. One set of students is forced to run from all manner of spiked rolling pins and saw blades, a jug of water being dangled in front of them like a bone in front of a dog. As she slows in front of Ryuji Akira sees a singular student dangling from the ceiling by his feet, swaying from the repeated impacts of volleyballs fired from a cannon straight into his chest.

Ryuji is angrily motioning to a student in a gym uniform behind the bars of the cell when Akira stops. “You’ve gotta be shittin’ me, you’re just putting up with this shit?” He’s saying behind clenched teeth.

When Akira gets a better look at the student she gasps in shock.his face is mottled with blue and black bruises, red welts form lines up and down his forearms, and his uniform is tight enough to show how unhealthily thin the boy is.

“It’s worse if we go against what the king’s orders… Don’t you understand? It’s safer if we just comply. Then he won’t hurt us as bad, or do something worse to us.” The boy rasps in a cracked voice, obviously dehydrated.

Akira’s eyes snap to the boy, eyebrows rising above the white part of her mask.  _ Something worse? Is Kamoshida threatening to kill them!? No, that makes no sense, if students started going missing that would cause far too many problems for the school, and besides he can’t be that far gone right? _ She steps in front of Ryuji, putting a hand on his shoulder to quiet him down, “What do you mean worse than being beaten? What could Kamoshida do to you that’s worse than this?” As she asks, Akira finds herself dreading the answer.

The student merely fixes her with a forlorn look “Our scholarships are far too precious to stop. It’s only another year of this until graduation, from them I can have my pick of whatever college I want.” His shoulders slump as he continues, pointing to Ryuji “King Kamoshida likes to use you as an example of what could happen if we don’t meet expectations or if we try to talk about what happens at practice.”

The blonde haired boy gapes for a moment “He’s still pullin’ that shit!? Argh… That fuckin’ asshole!” Ripping his phone out of his pocket Ryuji levels the camera at him and attempts to take a picture of the boy’s face, groaning angrily and shoving his phone back into his pocket a second later. “God damnit my phone ain’t workin’ for shit, how about yours?”

When prompted Akira digs her phone out of her coat pocket, one of many as it turns out, and tries to use her phone. “Nothing, for me it’s just stuck on the navigation app. Maybe it’s some sort of security measure, like something bad will happen if we try and close out of the app while we’re still here?” 

Ryuji’s eyes go wide, “Oh crap, didn’t think about it like that but still…” He trails off, looking out to the students getting tortured in the cells below. “Gimme a sec, I’m gonna memorize their faces, that way we can have a chat with ‘em when we get outta here.”

Akira nods as Morgana comes over and she holds his hand up to tell him to wait “Don’t worry we’re on our way out, Ryuji just needs a little bit longer.” The cat isn’t happy as she gives him the news, his head swiveling uncomfortably.

“I don’t like this Frizzy Hair, there were more guards last time I was down here. I thought they might have just been changing shifts but they’ve been gone for far too long. We need to go as soon as possible.”

Ryuji steps past them to the next cell, “Don’t worry guys, I’m almost done here, just give me a few seconds.” He presses his face against the bars as he peers into the cell. Nodding to himself he moves to the final cell, closest to where the group came in and repeats the process. Akira and Morgana follow him closely.

“How bad was it when you were here earlier Morgana?” Akira questions, now feeling wholly uneasy with the cat’s unsettling revelation.

“There were quite a few shadows that hung around here last time I came. It might’ve just been because of Kamoshida’s orders of searching the palace for us but at the same time, I feel like something’s wrong.” The cat explains nervously.

Akira begins to look around the chamber as well, the shadows cast by the torchlight seem to jump and dance, growing more ominous the longer she searches for signs of a trap. Her growing paranoia is interrupted by Ryuji coming back to them.

“Alright, I definitely got a few of them memorized, enough that at least one of them  _ has  _ to be willing to cough up some dirt on Kamoshida that we can use!” He stops and looks at the spooked pair, “What’s up, are there guards coming?” He asks quietly, moving closer to the two for protection.

“Morgana said that there were more guards here before than there are now but…” Akira shakes her head “We need to go, maybe you were right the first time and they’re just taking a long time changing shifts, so let’s go- before they get back!” She walks quickly towards the exit, the other two having to briefly jog to catch up.

As she turns onto the stairway to leave the dungeons she’s stopped, nearly running headfirst into a red shield. She jumps back, nearly ramming into Ryuji and Morgana as she does so. Before her stands a guard in foreboding red armor, nearly two feet taller than all other knights they’d encountered until this point. Unlike those guards, whose masks portrayed a feeling of hollow serenity, this one was carved into a deep, ugly, scowling visage. It chatters and shakes as it steps forward, the clunk of its boots adding to the noise. Chains wreath themselves around the suit of armor, binding it together as the shadowy forces underneath writhe and struggle for release from the metal cage.

“So eager to join the slaves are we? King Kamoshida will be most pleased to see you’ve come to understand your place in life, girl. Fortunately we have no need for crippled slaves and… whatever  _ that _ is.” The armor says, it’s voice low but also grinding like steel on stone. 

Akira blanks in fear and the monstrous guard quickly stomps forward and in a surprising act of agility extends its arm and catches Akira, grabbing her by the scalp and yanking her off the ground. The pain pulls her from her shock as she struggles in an attempt to pry the guard’s grip from her head. Unknowingly Akira nearly kicks Morgana in the head as the cat summons Zorro, in an attempt to save Akira.

“Garu!” He calls and the gusts of razor sharp wind that eviscerated enemies previously seems to be nothing more than a breeze against this enemy. The guard merely turns, the angry visage glaring at the cat.

_ It’s going to kill them and deliver me to that pervert if we don’t do something! _ Akira thinks desperately, pain lancing from its grip on her skull. She lowers her hands and the pain intensifies as more pressure is added against her head. Black fills the edges of her vision as Akira claws at her mask, feet kicking manically to find any purchase to stand on.

Finally her mask comes off and the familiar flames of Arsene appear around her. She plants one hand back on the gauntlet, crying “Arsene, help!”, her Persona quickly begins assaulting the hand that holds her, claws battering against the steel gauntlet as the guard grunts in what seems to be annoyance. 

“Fine. King Kamoshida requested you alive, but he never said you had to be  _ unharmed _ !” He pulls her closer to him, winding up before tossing her straight into Morgana, nearly impaling her on his saber as they go flying.

Tumbling to the ground Akira scrambles to get back up, the world spinning as she stands on unsteady feet. Pulling off her mask again she focuses on the shadowy guard that has started ripping at the chains all across its body.

“You little  _ wretches _ !” It screams as it continues pulling its own body apart “I am the warden of this castle, nothing escapes me...Nothing!” it pulls the final set of chains apart and the armor explodes, in an instant the goopy reddish black darkness swirls and forms into a massive creature in the twisted shape of a man with a bull’s head. In place of eyes there are two splotches glowing a bright red. Just above where a mechanical and serpentine tail connects to its form are several hatches, behind which Akira can make out the flickering of a furnace’s flames. 

“I am the demon Moloch, cower before me and your defeat shall be merciful! However I ask that you resist, for it shall be more fun for me.” The shadow slowly stomps forward on its two awkward legs, gripping the rims attached to its waist almost haughtily.

Finally having regained their bearings, Morgana and Akira form a wall in front of Ryuji, the cat turning to Akira “Frizzy Hair! This is a powerful shadow, we have to do this carefully!” 

She nods, about to reply before she notices that Moloch’s eyes have brightened, staring intently at her. A second later multicolored lights flash and dance before her eyes, soon after an intense pain lances through her mind, like a migraine out of hell, black spots fill her vision for a few moments afterward and she can feel blood dripping from her nose. In what feels like the distance she can hear Morgana exclaim “It’s psychic?” in a panic as he commands Zorro to heal her.

The healing helps as she refocuses her attention on the beast, “Eiha!” She shouts, only to watch the dark energies all but wash over Moloch like a river around a rock. “Morgana, my powers aren’t hurting it!” Akira shouts urgently.

“My wind spells aren’t having much of an effect either!” He shouts back, readying his saber. “Guess we have to do this the old fashioned way, en garde!” He says before pouncing at the massive demon, scoring a slash across its chest.

Following Morgana’s lead, Akira sends Arsene to hack away at the massive demon. Even as the two work in tandem, dodging, healing, and attacking it still doesn’t seem to do any significant damage against Moloch, the demon content to leisurely sweep its tail at them or fire off psychic spells at the one of the two, never stopping its slow advance.

This continues until Morgana gets a lucky strike in while Arsene distracts the demon, having circled around to the beast’s tail, the cat manages to sever it in a single clean slice. This finally breaks Moloch’s facade of smugness as the shadow staggers and falls to the ground, panting heavily.

“Frizzy Hair, now’s our chance!” Morgana yowls from behind Moloch. With her knife in hand Akira charges the shadow with Morgana, hacking away at Moloch with an almost frenzied desperation. The beast quickly recovers and grabs Morgana off his back, throwing him past Akira, who quickly jumps back. 

Moloch grunts in pain as it glares at them before it’s bovine mouth opens into a sinister smile. The closed hatches on its stomach open up and a great wave of fire spews forth from it, engulfing both Morgana and Akira in flames. 

The scorching heat blows the two Persona users onto their backs, Akira’s knife flies from her hand and clatters onto the stone floor some feet away from her. From her position Akira can see Morgana struggling to try and get up. Meanwhile Moloch resumes his march, albeit moving much faster than before. It limps past the two to where Ryuji is cowering against the wall next to the final set of cells.

“Rrgh, I’ll start with you… King Kamoshida will be pleased to learn of your death the most. I may even get a promotion out of a little runt like you.” Moloch grounds out with a manic glee. 

_ We can’t have come this far just to fail now damn it! _ Akira grits in her mind. She shakily turns and tries to stand, leaning heavily against one of the stone walls as she limps closer to Moloch, who now has Ryuji gripped in one of his arms. 

Akira raises a hand and tiredly pulls the mask off her face, panicking when Arsene doesn’t burst into existence behind her. She takes stock of her options, realizing that without Arsene there’s no way she could possibly reach Ryuji in time to save him. Then she remembers the gun she confiscated from Ryuji earlier. Ripping the gun from the pocket in her coat Akira fumbles with the safety mechanism before shakily leveling at the back of the monster.

The first shot imbeds itself in the wall next to the monster’s head, causing Moloch to turn to look at her.

The second shot glances off one of the shadow’s arms before joining its sibling in the wall. Akira curses and aims directly at the shadow’s chest, Moloch having dropped Ryuji and now facing her head on.

The third and fourth shots ring true, Moloch’s shrieks of pain sounding throughout the hall. He harbors a hateful stare that bores into Akira as he lowers his head and begins a hobbling charge towards her.

Akira lets the final four shots go in a single salvo, the final shot finding its mark right above the bridge of the shadow’s nose. It collapses mid-sprint, only a few feet from Akira’s spot on the wall before quickly evaporating into that murky ether that all shadows create when killed.

In relief Akira slumps until she’s sitting against the wall, breathing heavily. The adrenaline she felt earlier quickly fades away and the pain sets in. Burns and bruises have her trying to move as little as possible as pain ebbs and flows like an angry tide against the shore. Looking out of the corner of her eye she can see Morgana casting a spell over himself with Zorro before moving over to her.

“Frizzy Hair, are you okay?” He asks in a panic as he tries to put himself in her field of view.

“No. Everything hurts,” she winces as the movement in her jaw hurts too “Can I get one of those healing spells of yours?” She asks hopefully.

Morgana shakes his head in despair “I’m all out sorry, I just used the last of my power now… what about those pills I gave you yesterday? You still have them right?” 

When she weakly tries to reach into one of her pockets Morgana stops her. “It’s in one of these right? Don’t move, we’ll get them for you… Blondie get over here, Frizzy Hair needs help!”

Ryuji, who had been massaging his throat quickly jogs over and worriedly bends down to their level. “Shit this isn’t good, what do you need me to do?”

Morgana points to the coat pocket Akira had been reaching for, “She needs the medicine I gave her out of that pocket. I don’t think I can get to them without hurting her!” he laments as Ryuji gently searches the coat and pulls out the neatly wrapped pellets, unfolding one and holding it in his palm hesitantly.

“Um,” He pauses and turns to Morgana whispering frantically “Do I feed it to her or something?”

Her face scrunched in pain, Akira grabs the pellet Ryuji unwrapped and pops it into her mouth and begins to chew. The medicine has a chalky texture and is unbelievably bitter, Akira’s first reflex nearly causing her to spit it out. She forces it down and tries to manage the pain, thankfully it’s not long before a surge of cool energy rushes through her body, reducing the pain to nothing more than dull aches and exhaustion.

Ryuji gently helps Akira stand again and she nods in thanks as they all stand and catch their breath. “Are… are there going to be more shadows that powerful on the way out?” Ryuji asks cautiously.

Morgana shakes his head “I don’t know but there shouldn’t be. Most shadows here aren’t that powerful, this one must’ve had a powerful connection to Kamoshida through some way or another. His form as a guard also had its own identity which is unusual seeing as all of the others I’ve seen here so far mostly act like lifeless copies of each other. I recommend we leave the palace immediately and avoid fighting any more shadows if at all possible. As it stands, Frizzy Hair and myself are likely too tired to be able to do much else.” He finishes, Akira nodding with him.

“I even used up all of the bullets we had for the pistol.” She adds, ejecting the magazine from it, only to be surprised when another eight bullets appear. “Wait, how did it just magically refill itself… Morgana?” she asks, waiting on an explanation.

“Cognition of course!” The cat begins “As I said earlier, it only works because the shadows believe it’s real. Now if it's real to them, there’s no reason for them not to assume it’s fully loaded. Didn’t you notice that you fired eight shots at Moloch when you should’ve only been able to fire seven?” 

“The bullet in the safe room!” Akira exclaims, “So it just automatically refills because the shadow’s here just assume that it’s loaded... “ She bites the corner of her lip for a moment “Okay, I’m starting to rethink that rule on guns. If we were to meet more enemies like Moloch then we can’t just go around wasting energy on every single shadow we encounter and if this is an effectively inexhaustible resource then we should be using it more often. We have to be extremely careful about how we use them though, I don’t want any more incidents like the safe room. Even now we’re lucky I didn’t accidentally hit Ryuji with a stray bullet when I was aiming at Moloch. So if you are going to bring any more guns I think we’ll have to have a long talk about when and how we’re going to use them, okay Ryuji?” 

The boy nods warily, the thought of having been hit with friendly fire not even crossing his mind until Akira pointed it out. “Yeah… but why would we come in here more? We got what we needed, I still remember who some of these guys are and I’m gonna write them down the second we get out of here too.”

Morgana assesses Akira as she responds “Moloch said he was going to take me alive, but kill you two. Kamoshida said the same thing, now look around, tell me what you see Ryuji.” As Akira finishes, Morgana beams at her with pride but stays silent as Ryuji looks around the room.

“I don’t know, I see the cells, stone walls, all of those guys getting abused by… wait. There are only guys in all of these cells, but there’s a volleyball team for both guys and girls… you think there’s a different set of cells for the girls too?” He exclaims in shock.

Morgana interjects before Akira can continue, “I knew you were a sharp one, Frizzy Hair!”  
Smiling gently, she thanks him before picking up where she left off, “I do. Remember when we first met the shadow Kamoshida yesterday, how disgusting he acted towards me, he said-” She pauses, her face red with disgust and revulsion at having to repeat the words “He said ‘I wanna see just who I’ll be nailing tonight’. I think the girls are kept somewhere near his room as… well I think you get the idea.”

The Shujin pair shiver as they think about what Akira implied. Their companion however simply nods, his grin from before now becoming a sober frown “That theory, as horrible as it is, goes along with what I’ve seen of this Kamoshida. Regardless, we don’t have the energy to attempt another excursion in the palace today, let’s head for the entrance.” The students agree without argument and the trio set off in the direction of their exit from the castle.

***

The main stretch of their journey is thankfully much quieter, the group making as much use of the dark as possible to hide themselves from guards. Akira keeps a tight grip on the pistol and her dagger regardless, their weights slowly starting to feel more familiar. The knowledge that the pistol would always have ammo to protect them begins to feel comforting after a time.

Their luck however, runs out when they reach the main hall. Just across from them, standing directly in front of the hall where their exit is located is the shadow Kamoshida. He laughs as he sees them “I can’t believe that you two are so stupid as to make the same mistake twice! Or maybe it wasn’t a mistake and you just wanted to see  _ me _ again, am I right girly?”

Akira shivers at the suggestion but stays silent,  _ I want to hurt you.  _ She thinks, helpless to actually act,  _ If I had enough energy to use Arsene I’d have hurt you for the things you’ve done to those boys down there, and the girls you’ve undoubtedly got somewhere else. I get the feeling that if I acted now though, all three of us would be dead.  _

Kamoshida continues, either disregarding her silence or treating it as consent, “And you really must be so eager to die coming here trash. No worries, I can fulfill everyone’s desires here! Especially my own.”

Ryuji steps in front and Akira forces herself to take another step to match him, just in case a shadow, or Kamoshida himself, decides to lash out at the boy. “You’re not gonna be fulfilling shit asshole! I saw the guys down in those cells, I know their names. Once we get out of here we’re gonna get them to tell the cops about all the dirty shit you’ve been pullin’. You ain’t gonna be waltzin’ around the school like it’s your castle then, you’ll be rottin’ in a prison cell!”

The king laughs “And for a second there I was worried, I guess it’s true what they say, ‘barking dogs seldom bite’! Just how far have you fallen Ryuji? Honestly I don’t think anyone at Shujin would be sad if the track traitor went missing suddenly.” He grins and turns to Akira, “You probably didn’t even know about that did you? You’ve been working with this violent delinquent this whole entire time, it’s a miracle you’re still unharmed with him around.”

This time Akira does speak up, pointing at Kamoshida accusingly “He’s already told me everything! If anyone’s a ‘violent delinquent’ here it’s you! You manipulate, beat, and brutalize teens, that’s not something any sane adult does!”

Kamoshida merely looks down on her before turning away, walking up the grand staircase and calling down to the guards nonchalantly “Kill the trash and chain the girl up when you’re done. Fail me and I’ll have you executed.” He stops at the top, looking down on the group from the upper landing.

The grey guards follow their orders, reshaping into their true shadowy selves. Three demonic horned stallions encircle them, forcing Morgana and Akira to fight back to back, with Ryuji squished in between them. 

When one of the stallions gets too close Akira fires a round, when it hits the horse flinches and backs off, continuing to circle with its brethren.

“Morgana, they’re toying with us!” She informs him apprehensively.

His response comes quickly “They know we’re tired, they’re goading us to go on the offensive!”

_ We don’t have any other options, if we stay like this they’ll just wait out our ammunition then just ram us to death… _ “We don’t have any other choice! Pick one, I’ll take another and then we’ll meet in the middle?” She proposes, hoping to sound more confident than she is. 

Morgana’s response is a war cry and she can hear him readying his slingshot behind her. Returning to her previous target Akira lets loose, unloading all of her ammunition against the demon horse before rushing in, her knife in a white knuckled grip.

When she swings for its head it simply raises it out of reach, bringing it down on her when Akira tries to move in to strike its neck. As she stumbles away the demon horse lowers its head and rushes forward, ramming her in her ribs and making her see stars as she is thrown onto her back. A nearby thump tells her that Morgana has quickly joined her.

As the cat tries to stand again he is stomped down by Kamoshida’s foot, Akira flips over and tries crawling to help Morgana but quickly meets the same fate by the golden guard captain who hadn’t stepped in to fight. 

Having come down near the end of the pitifully short lived fight, Kamoshida laughs gleefully at Ryuji, the boys having fallen, paralyzed by fear and shock. “Ha, I bet you just came here because you wanted to play hero didn’t you, wandered in here on a whim because you thought you might get a little adventure out of it?”  
Ryuji shakes his head lamely “No… I came in here because I wanted to stop you.”

Another mocking laugh from Kamoshida “How quick to get emotional! And stop me? No one at that filthy school wants me to stop! I’m the sole reason that Shujin is as prestigious as it is, all of its fame and glory come from me! No one wants you to stop me, just like with the track team all you want to do is stop others from benefiting from my tutelage because of your own selfish desires.”

Ryuji begins to recover as he slams his fist against the thick carpet, using his anger as a torch. “‘Benefiting from your tutelage’ my ass! What you did to us was physical and emotional abuse!”

Kamoshida throws his hands in the air in exasperation “That team was nothing but an eyesore, getting any meaningful results out of it was useless, just like that coach I got fired! If he hadn’t tried to fight me so hard I would’ve settled with just breaking his star pupil’s leg.”

This genuinely shocks Ryuji from what Akira can see with the gold guard’s boot on her back “What?”

The king is openly gloating now, pressing harder on Morgana’s back in excitement “I thought I broke your leg not your head you piece of trash! Of course I got rid of any chance that the track team would be decent. All that sweet, sweet funding came straight to me! And oh how sweet it was, no one even bothers to question how it gets spent so long as I keep getting results for Shujin. You know what? I think I’ll break that other leg of yours, it’s not like the school will be shocked when I say that you attacked me again.” 

Kneeling back on his feet Ryuji lowers his head “Damnit, I’m gonna lose again… not only can I not run again, you took the whole track team apart because you’re such an asshole.”

Morgana calls out to Ryuji desperately trying to get his attention as Kamoshida continues, manically cackling over the cat’s yelling. “Once I kill the cat and get the girl in chains… I think I’m gonna take my time ending you. Oh, there’s just so many options for me to choose from that I just don’t know how I’ll decide. Either way, I know it’ll be unpleasant for you… Icing on the cake really.”

Struggling to move under the guard’s boot Akira inhales and screams as loud as she can “He’s gotten away with hurting people for so long, don’t let this piece of shit win!”

This sets the boy off, slowly getting to his feet “Yeah… you’re right, this asshole’s taken everything that ever mattered for me and none of it’s ever gonna come back.”

Kamoshida merely sneers, unconcerned “Don’t turn away Ryuji, I want you to watch as I punish these two, and know that they’re only here because of trash like you.”

“I’m trash, fuck that. You’re the trash here Kamoshida! You use people like tools to get whatever you want! You’re a goddamn scumbag, that’s what you are!” Ryuji stalks forward, fists clenched angrily “And quit lookin’ down on me with that stupid fuckin’ smile on your face!” He shouts.

For a moment Akira thinks Ryuji’s going to deck Kamoshida in the face, but he collapses on his knees, screaming in pain as he clenches his head.  _ Wait… Is he awakening to a Persona!? _ Akira thinks bewildered. Glancing at Morgana she motions with her eyes to the guard above her. The cat smirks and nods.

Kamoshida lightens his weight on the cat as he recoils in confusion at the boy writhing about on the floor. The two Persona users use that confusion as their moment to escape, Morgana wriggling free while Akira rolls, unbalancing the guard captain and slipping out. Grabbing her knife she blocks the sword swing that comes down on her, holding her guard against the golden knight.

_ Come on Ryuji, not to rush you but it’d be great if you could awaken a little faster! _ She breaks away from her opponent and puts herself between the suit of armor and Ryuji. A small part of her wonders if this is karma at work for not being able to awaken Arsene until the boy was nearly about to be killed as she urgently surveys the room, watching for who might try to attack first. Morgana joins her in the defense and soon there’s a tense standoff, interrupted only by Ryuji’s moans and grunts of pain.

After a moment the boy raises his head again, this time a grey tinted metal skull is covering his face.  _ Yes, it is a Persona! _ Akira mentally cheers, a second later Ryuji pulls it off and the room is engulfed in blue light as the boy becomes shrouded in a pillar of familiar bright blue flames. The following shockwave blows everyone away from him and Akira and Morgana struggle to keep themselves from being blown over.

When the fire fades Ryuji is left panting and behind him is a pirate, complete with a hook hand, peg leg, and oddly enough a cannon for an arm. The pirate stands on what looks like an old ship, bobbing up and down as if sailing on an invisible ocean. “Right on… What’s up Persona?” Ryuji preens before facing Kamoshida “It’s payback time you assholes!”

The gold guard angrily raises his sword to the air “Protect the king at all costs!” he yells before bringing the sword down, causing his armor to melt away, revealing his true form as a red armored knight riding a black horse. Two of the demon horses from earlier quickly reform on either side of the knight.

Ryuji smirks, “Ha, screw that noise. Blast ‘em away Captain Kidd!” As he points, the smell of ozone fills the air and in a second the two horses are brought to their knees by lightning that seems to come from nowhere. 

Akira pulls out her pistol and finds that once again it’s full of bullets, she calls out to the others “Same plan as before, Morgana you take one horse and I’ll take the other. Ryuji? Think you can hold the big guy off until we can join you?”

Ryuji laughs and hefts a metal pipe that she couldn’t see before. “My pleasure, pal.” before charging at the mounted knight. Thankfully, with Ryuji’s devastating lightning attacks the demonic horses are much easier to strike down than before, fading away after a few shots to the head. When Akira moves to assist Ryuji she’s glad to see that both he and Morgana are faring much better than previously, the latter already having moved to assist the boy.

Unfortunately the mounted knight isn’t as easy to take down, swinging his large spear in wide arcs, forcing the group to constantly scatter and get back in any semblance of formation as they fight. Ryuji fires lightning often, nailing the rider with reckless abandon. After expending the last of their ammo Morgana and Akira take their blades and constantly try to gain the demon’s attention, one striking when the rider focuses on the other. It takes time, and the rider manages to get a few lucky glancing strikes in but it falls and the group heaves a collective sigh as it disperses.

Ryujia pants as he levels a glare at Kamoshida, the only shadow left in the hall, “How’s that asshole? Even if you apologize, even if you get on your knees and beg… I ain’t forgiven’ you.” He warns darkly.

To his frustrating credit, Kamoshida doesn’t look the least bit scared, instead he grins at them “You don’t get it do you? This is  _ my _ castle you’re in.” and seemingly out of nowhere a scantily clad girl struts to Kamoshida’s side, practically gluing herself to his shoulder.

_ It’s Takamaki-san! _ Akira realizes with a start, now wearing a two piece swimsuit covered in large purple sequins, atop her head is a headband with a pair of cat ears attached, and a small tiara sat between them.  _ Is that supposed to be some kind of crown? _ Akira wonders, staring at the girl. 

From her side she can hear Morgana gasp in surprise “My god… what a meow-velous and beautiful girl…” The cat trails off, almost as if in a trance.

_ She really is… wait. What!?  _ Akira looks away in confusion as she tries to figure out where the thought came from. Thankfully she’s drawn from that as Ryuji turns to her in confusion “Hey, uh what the hell’s going on? This feels wrong, has Takamaki-san always known about this place?”

That question snaps Akira back to the current situation.  _ She didn’t seem too happy when I got between her and Kamoshida, at first I thought that Kamoshida was harassing her and she was uncomfortable, was I just interrupting a lover’s quarrel? No, she wasn’t acting like she is now… something feels off about her. _ Turning to Ryuji she shakes her head “I don’t think so. I have a theory, I’ll tell you about it later.”

Ryuji nods as Kamoshida raises a hand to Takamaki-san’s face, stroking her lips with his thumb. The boy quickly barks “Stop touchin’ her you filthy perv!”

Kamoshida’s smug grin persists and he turns to face the blonde girl directly. “Oh you poor, stupid fool. How many times must I say it? This is my castle and I’m the king. I can do whatever I want, and everyone here adores me. Isn’t that right darling?” 

The coquettish laugh the blonde gives off feels almost like the recording made for a doll. Her voice high pitched and slurred “Oh yes, we all love to be loved by  _ Master _ .” 

Hearing this thing talk confirms Akira’s suspicions that it’s nothing more than a cognition, it also makes her want to vomit profusely.

The cognition turns to Akira and her eyes light up as she hops in lightly in her high heels “Oh Master, Master! Are you going to play with  _ her  _ too?” Another wave of unnatural giggles washes over the blonde.

Kamoshida gives a lecherous grin “You think I should too huh? I want to, but she’s making it so hard to want to play with her.” His voice loses all of its mirth and a dangerous scowl takes the grin’s place. “She really shouldn’t be playing so hard to get after all. It’s rude to deny a king what he wants.”

“Akira ain’t your plaything jackass, and if you lay so much as a hand on her you’re gonna regret it!” Ryuji shouts. 

The shadow king turns to the boy, scowl still firm on his place “And as for you… fine, I’m done underestimating you. Guards!” Several gold knights appear in a flash of red and black. “Kill the boy and that cat thing, try and take the girl alive if you can.” After issuing his commands Kamoshida allows a hand to settle on the cognition Takamaki-san’s butt as the two ascend the stairs and exit the main hall.

Morgana calls out to the group “We’re outnumbered, let’s get the hell out of here!”

The blonde haired boy scoffs “What we’re just gonna run? That asshole needs to be punished!”

Before Morgana can respond Akira cuts in “You might have gas left in the tank but Morgana and I are running on empty! Let’s live today, and come back for Kamoshida another time alright?”

Thankfully Ryuji acquiesces, and the trio bolt out of the main hall and through the vent they had entered through originally. Once a good distance from the large main doors of the castle the group stops to catch their breath. 

“So, what’s the deal with this? Is this outfit kinda like your opera suit thing? That whole ‘inner rebel’ thing right?”

Akira nods, still slightly hunched over “Yeah, it’s a good look for you Ryuji, really sells that ‘troublemaker’ vibe you’ve got.”

He chuckles timidly “You make that sound like it’s a good thing, but thanks… It’s still loads cooler than yours though!” He teases, an easy grin underneath his mask.

“Oh hell no Ryuji, see these?” She flaps the sides of her coat a few times for emphasis “These have pockets, pockets for days dude. This is so much cooler because of that alone.”

Ryuji tilts his head in confusion “They’re just pockets though, what makes that so special?”

Their mock argument is cut short by Morgana shushing them sternly “Quiet down you two! The shadows are still looking for us!”

As if in response to the cat’s command the group hears several voices calling out from within the castle. The three pause tensely, ready to dash at a moment's notice, luckily the voices fade after a few seconds and the group relaxes somewhat.

In a strained whisper Ryuji asks “So how did this happen to me? I still don’t get it.”

Morgana sighs briefly “When a person opposes a palace ruler and the ruler truly views them as a threat, they awaken to their persona. Kamoshida was genuinely afraid of you at some point back there and you awakened Captain Kidd as a result. Your clothing forms as a protection against the distortions of the palace, or more accurately their ruler. The Metaverse can wreak havoc on an unprotected individual’s mind if they stay for too long or if the ruler of a palace wants to cause them harm.” 

Ryuji scratches his head “I still don’t really get it all but alright. Hey Akira, now that we’ve got the names we should go. Tomorrow’s the volleyball festival so we’ll have plenty of time to track the guys down and get some answers out of them.”

The cat hisses in annoyance before Akira can say anything “No, you’re not just leaving me here like last time! We need to talk about our deal Frizzy Hair.”

Akira blinks “What deal?”  
The cat rolls his eyes “I agreed to help guide you guys out of here and I’ve done so- twice now as a matter of fact! I also took the time to explain to you how everything in the Metaverse works. It’s time that you two… or at least you Frizzy Hair, pay me back for all of my work!”

Grimacing Akira pulls all of the yen they had collected from defeating the shadows inside the palace. “There’s a lot of yen here.” She holds up the five thousand yen they had earned. “Is there any way I could just take a few hundred yen out of this for myself? I’m new in town and haven’t gotten a job just yet.”

The cat waves his paw at her angrily, like she had just insulted him “I don’t want your money, what I need is your help! I came here to investigate Kamoshida’s palace and it’s becoming glaringly obvious that I can’t do it on my own. Since I was nice enough not only to save you two, but to show you the ropes as well. I believe that I’m well within my rights to demand that you accompany me through the palace.”

Ryuji looks at Morgana with annoyance “Dude, we’re literally comin’ back here anyway. Akira said she wanted to find the girls’ cells so that’s what we’re gonna do. You’re still down for that right?” He turns to Akira, looking somewhat sheepish at having answered for her.

She smiles “After what we saw back there with that cognition of Takamaki-san I definitely think we need to check it out. We also have to deal with our own investigations into Kamoshida’s abuses in the real world. After that… yes I’ll help with your investigations. Just so long as they don’t include anything that’ll get us in trouble outside the Metaverse!” She adds hastily.

Morgana breathes a sigh of relief and shakes his head “No, I’m not interested in the real world. My investigations only take place inside the Metaverse.”

Ryuji drops to the cat’s level “See you later Monamona, we gotta get going now. See you in like two days I guess?” He picks himself up afterward, turning on his heel and strolling towards the exit.

As he does so Morgana begins to splutter angrily “Two days!? He roars as quietly as he can.

Akira gives him a sheepish apology and quickly jogs over to Ryuji, leaving the angry cat behind. Ryuji gives her an unimpressed look when she catches up “You know we don’t have to stick around to help the cat right? He’s gonna get in the way of us lookin’ into Kamoshida.”

Sighing Akira nods “I know, but neither of us would even be alive after today if it weren’t for him so I do feel that we owe it to him to help out. Besides, it’s better to not burn bridges if we don’t have to.” 

Ryuji’s shoulders slump “Fine, you’ve got a point there. I'll admit it. He just gets on my nerves acting all smart and smug.”

As the two approach the alleyway that they first took to get to school Akira pulls out her phone. “I know you two don’t exactly get along, but it’s for a good cause. So can you please continue to play nice?”

Ryuji nods and Akira thumbs the ‘End Navigation’ button on the Metaverse Navigator. The street quickly brightens and the noise of a bustling crowd fills their ears. Akira checks the time on her phone and sees that it’s mid afternoon.

“Thank god that worked. I didn’t wanna have to run all the way out like we did last time. God that hurt like a bitch.” He massages his knee gently. “Sorry I dragged you around so much today. I didn’t mean to get us caught up in all that crap back at the castle. Speaking of that, I’m dead tired, how about you?”

Akira’s stomach answers for her, rumbling loudly as her face goes red in embarrassment. “I suppose I could go for some food right about now.” She replies lamely.

Ryuji nods sympathetically “I get you, so…” He trails off before starting again. “You meant it earlier right, that you’d help me get people to ‘fess up to Kamoshida’s abuses?”  
The blush fades from her face as Akira nods resolutely “Without a doubt, something _has_ to be done to help these people. I can’t just sit still and let him continue doing what he’s doing.” 

Ryuji smiles a bit before it fades “Look, I don’t think I have to tell you about all the rumors going around, but people here already have you pegged as a crook. I ain’t got any proof but I think Kamoshida was the one who spread the rumors, he did similar shit to the track team when he wanted us gone. He’s probably doing it to get you to wig out or some shit so he can get you expelled.”

“Of course he did,” Akira sighs angrily “but I think you’re wrong about wanting to get me expelled. When I interrupted him and Takamaki-san earlier today, before we entered the palace, he told me that his door would always be open if I needed ‘guidance’. I think he spread those rumors so he could play the ‘good guy’ so he could…” She trails off, uncomfortable with the conclusion she’s reached. 

“So that asshole’s trying to play the pity game huh? What a sick bastard. Well don’t worry, that asshole’s days of wreckin’ shit are done. I’m countin’ on you to help me take that bastard down!” He grins and holds out his hand.

Akira shakes his hand without hesitation, finding herself surprised when he vigorously pumps her arm several times. As they pull apart Akira feels everything freeze and something in her heart pops as she hears a voice, that same faint, feminine voice that had called out to her in the dungeons talking about a ‘game’ from the day before. It tells her that she’s created a vow that has led to the birth of the Chariot Persona. 

As soon as it comes it’s gone and Akira is left clutching her chest as Ryuji stares at her in concern “Hey Akira, you doin’ okay? You just grabbed your chest all of a sudden, you’re not feelin’ any pain are you? He asks seriously, eyes roving over her almost clinically “Feelin’ somethin’ like that after any sort of physical exertion ain’t a good sign.”

She shakes her head “No I just… I thought I felt something, it’s nothing to worry about.” She smiles, and Ryuji takes a step back, still somewhat concerned.

He’s stopped from asking any more questions as his stomach rumbles almost as loud as Akira’s did. “Heh, I suppose I haven’t eaten anything since lunch either. Hey why don’t we take some of that cash we earned and go grab a bite to eat, somethin’ to celebrate us takin’ down Kamoshida for good!” Akira nods and the two set off down the street in search of food.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all seriousness, gun safety's no joke and I've always found it funny how quickly the game glosses over Japanese teens most likely not having any firearm safety knowledge whatsoever given the multitude of steps necessary to even obtain a license to own one. On a more lighthearted note, the next chapter should be out on time at the end of this week, barring any unforeseen circumstances.


	6. Chapter 6

Akira and Ryuji eventually end up in a beef bowl shop on Central Street in Shibuya, called Ore no Beko. She’s surprised when Ryuji decides to pay for both of them, when she asks if it’ll be too expensive he shrugs it off, calling it not that big of a deal. As the two get their food and sit down, Ryuji looks restless, his leg bouncing up and down against the pale tiles of the shop floor. He constantly shifts from looking at the menu of the shop, to Akira, to his own bowl of noodles in front of him, and back to the menu. 

Sighing, Akira sets her chopsticks down and looks at him, directly in the eyes, waiting for him to inevitably shift back to her. When he turns to look at her again he jumps, laughing sheepishly, Akira gives a small smile. “What’s up? You were excited to come here a few minutes ago and now you’re really quiet.”

This makes the boy even more nervous, he stammers a bit and rubs the back of his neck. “Well. I- I just was kinda wondering, not that I believe any of the bullshit people are sayin’ at school, just wanted to know what you did that landed you here in Tokyo, you know?”

The girl has to resist a frown, _My record… right. He has a right to know, I mean he told Morgana and I about his problems with Kamoshida. And not to mention he’s decided to be friends with me regardless of what everyone else says…_ She stares at her bowl of ramen for a moment. “Okay.” She says simply, keeping quiet for a few moments as she thinks about how best to tell her story.

“It all started when I was walking home from a night class at the cram school I was attending during the break. I was headed towards the bus station, and I heard a woman that sounded like she was struggling.” Akira closes her eyes and she can practically see the whole scene play out in her head. She sighs again, continuing on with her story “I followed the sounds to see if she needed any sort of help and when I found her, the lady was trying to get away from some older guy. He sounded like he was drunk and wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing so I yelled at him, threatened to call the cops on him if he didn’t leave the woman alone. He tried to grab me, but he slipped and hit his head against a railing pretty hard. When the police-” 

She’s interrupted by Ryuji who interrupts “Wait, this doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong though. Am I missing something or what?” 

She gives him a mildly irritated look “I was getting to that part. As I was saying, the police showed up and the drunk guy immediately started spouting on about how I had assaulted him. He said that ‘this psycho schoolgirl had jumped him and his girlfriend while they were on a date’. After that it was a short ride to the police station and....” She wrings her hands in her lap, in an attempt to stop them from shaking. “And then came the interrogation, which was terrifying. They locked me in a room and screamed at me for hours, they threatened me, told me that I’d be ruining all the work my parents put into raising me and that I’d disgraced them. They said a whole bunch of other stuff too that I’d rather not repeat. I signed a plea deal pretty quick afterwards and within a week I ended up here.” She shrugs dejectedly as she finishes, gently picking up her chopsticks and eating again.

The conversation goes silent for a bit as Ryuji takes it in, having stopped eating entirely. Akira flinches in shock when he finally says something.

“What!?” Ryuji exclaims loudly, drawing several heads towards him, he continues, not noticing how his volume is attracting attention “So all that crap people were sayin’ about you assaulting people is just bullshit? What the fuck dude, how does something like that even happen? What about that chick the guy was harassing, didn’t she say something?”

Akira grimaces “Yeah she did, she said that the drunk guy was right and that I was acting like a psycho.” The look the woman gave her is something she’d never forget, that stare of fear and panic as she helped the drunk man sell his lie and take Akira’s life away from her. Gripping her chopsticks more tightly, she returns to her food again, with more vigor this time.

“She sided with that asshole?” Ryuji nearly shouts, this time getting shushed by several nearby customers. He quiets down a bit, but the indignation is still there, stronger than before. “Fuck just _hearing_ that shit makes me wanna lose it, how’d you manage to deal with it?”

Shrugging again she swallows her food “It happened so fast I honestly don’t think it really hit me until I was on the train ride back from the sentencing hearing. It felt like one minute I was walking home, the next I was in a cell at the local station. How am I dealing with it now though? I’m just trying not to think about it, my plan was to just keep my head down and blend in, live quietly for a year until I could go back home but I can’t really do that now can I?”  
Ryuji nods understandingly “Yeah I get that, now that your record’s out it doesn’t matter what the truth is, the idiots at school are gonna keep talkin’ shit like they know what’s right. Doesn’t matter if you try and set the record straight either, no one’ll believe you.” His tone turns bitter as he stares angrily at his ramen, he quickly recovers though, shaking his head and smiling at Akira “I guess that means we got a whole lot in common then huh? You and me are treated like pains in the ass of the school, like we don’t belong right?” 

Akira nods, grinning as she adds “We’re also the only ones in the school who have Stands now, don’t forget.” 

Ryuji smiles as well before breaking into giddy laughter “Holy shit you’re right we do both have stands now! It’s so goddamn cool too, did you see Captain Kidd? I mean seriously that is the definition of badass, like his arm cannon was all like ‘boom’, ‘pow’, and ‘zap’!”

“Awakening to your Persona really did save our asses back there. Thank you for that, I don’t think I said it earlier.”  
Ryuji waves his hand dismissively “Nah, it was nothin’. If anything I was just payin’ you and that cat back for saving my hide yesterday. Although, talkin’ about all that palace crap. What do we want to do about goin’ back in?”

Akira shakes her head “I don’t think it’d be a good idea to go back in tomorrow. I’m still sore and tired from everything we did today, it wouldn’t be healthy to push ourselves so hard. We told Morgana that we’d meet him there in two days so I say we stick to that plan. Also I have a question Ryuji.”

The boy cocks his head curiously “I get what you’re sayin’, and go ahead, ask away.”  
Akira points to his bag, which is laying on the floor beneath them. “How did you manage to fit that pipe you had with you in the Metaverse into that bag?”

“Oh that thing? I left it in that alleyway, no one ever cleans back there anyway and I didn’t feel like carryin’ the damn thing with me the whole way here. Don’t think they would’ve actually let me on the subway if I did anyway.”

Akira bites her lip uneasily “If you’re sure about it then I’ll trust you, I just want to make sure we’re as prepared as possible for the next time we go in… that also means you’re going to need a gun of your own, they’re efficient and will allow us to conserve energy as we go. However, I do still think they’re extremely dangerous and need to be handled with care so that we don’t hurt ourselves when we use them.”  
Ryuji pumps his fist in the air excitedly, “Oh man this is gonna be so awesome! What should I get do you think? That shop’s pretty close by, wanna help me look for one?”  
“No, I should be getting back to Yongen-Jaya soon, Sojiro won’t like it if he has to stay late waiting for me and I don’t want to make him angry after what happened with the school yesterday, so I think it’s best if I don’t push him for a while.” Akira replies before quickly finishing her ramen.

Ryuji takes a large bite of his own ramen as well, talking around a mouth full of noodles “Sounds good, if you wanna get outta here at a decent time though you might wanna leave soon, rush hour’s a bitch going to Yongen.”

“Thanks for the tip, and Ryuji when you get that gun, whatever it is? Please read the manual for how to use it, I don’t want any more repeats of today okay?” Akira requests quietly, eyes darting around the shop to ensure no one would overhear the two.

Nodding Ryuji assures her “Yeah, no worries I’ll take this seriously. I saw what nearly happened to you and Morgana and I don’t wanna see somethin’ like that happen again on my watch. Hey, seeing as we’re gonna be workin’ together on dealing with Kamoshida, it’d be better if we exchanged numbers so we don’t have a mix up like we did before we went into the palace today.” He pulls out his phone and opens up his contacts, looking at Akira expectantly.

“You’re right, here.” Akira quickly gives her information to him and a moment later she gets a message from him. Saving the information into her phone and putting it back into her bag Akira freezes as she sees something new inside. _I know I shouldn’t be surprised seeing as it happened with the medicine and the knife, but seeing a gun sitting in my schoolbag really isn’t something I’m going to get used to at all._ When Ryuji asks what has her attention she allows him a small peek into the bag before quickly piling her study materials over the firearm and zipping the bag shut. 

“When you do pick out a gun, make sure that you conceal it for the day when we go back into that castle. If even a student caught us with something like this, we’d both be screwed for sure.” Akira warns, already seeing visions of police cars and prison bars in her imagination. 

Ryuji blinks a few times “Shit, I didn’t even think about that. I think you can kinda take the models apart though, so maybe that’d help smuggle ‘em in and out of school? We can’t exactly just leave them in our lockers after all.”  
That sounds like a solid idea, I’m going to take mine apart as well to see how it . It’ll have to wait a while because there’s no way I’m bringing any of this out while Sojiro’s still in Leblanc.” Akira says before remembering that she was going to leave and try and beat out the rush hour in the subways. She quickly thanks Ryuji for the meal and promises to message him later before hurrying back home.

***

Akira considers herself lucky, having beaten most of the foot traffic on the trains with only her final leg of the journey having a packed car. Thankfully her headphones weren’t damaged in her earlier expedition into Kamoshida’s castle, and she has them fit snugly around her ears as she listens quietly to a study playlist she’d made for herself a year earlier, going over the day’s events.

_It’s clear that Kamoshida sees the boys as slaves, given what we saw in the dungeon that’s a reasonable assumption to make. How he pictures the girls is a more complicated matter. The Takamaki-san we saw in the castle may not be a good standard to judge exactly how he views the girls team seeing as she isn’t a part of it herself and she seems to be closer to him than any of the other girls I’ve seen at school, regardless of whether they are actually dating or not. If we’re going to put a stop to Kamoshida’s abuses we can’t just throw wild accusations and expect the police to do anything to look into it. If we know exactly what he thinks about the girls’ volleyball team we may have a better chance of getting at least one of them to come forward..._ She allows her thoughts to trail off as the train clacks into Yongen-Jaya station. She shuffles off of it with the rest of the waves of passengers both in front of and behind her. 

The sun is barely beginning to set when she finally sets foot in Leblanc, the bell above the door tinkling in her arrival. The cafe is empty, with the exception of its proprietor, who is perched on a barstool, paper in hand just like when Akira first arrived a few days earlier. 

Sojiro peers down his glasses at her, not bothering to put the paper down, returning to it after a few moments before remarking “... You’re home, I take it you actually _went_ to school today?”

Akira stares at the ground uncomfortably, she wants to tell him that yesterday was a bizarre accident beyond her control, that it’s not her fault. “Yes Sojiro-san, I went to school today.” She responds weakly, not wanting to disrespect the man anymore than she already is by lying to him.

He scoffs “Back to ‘Sojiro-san’ are we? Look, maybe you learned your lesson after yesterday. I’ll say it plain, just in case you didn’t; I don’t care what you do with your own time, so long as it doesn’t bring any trouble down on me. When I start getting calls from the academy, or worse, the police? We’re gonna have problems, so just keep your head down, got it?” Sojiro finally looks back up at her, giving her another stare down from behind his glasses. “One wrong move and I’m kicking you out of here, and it’ll be up to you and your-” He stops himself and a sardonic chuckle as he corrects himself “Well no, it’ll be just you from that point on, your life isn’t a free one at the moment so keep that in mind when you think about doing something stupid.”

Akira wants to ask about what Sojiro was going to say, but is interrupted by her phone vibrating in her bag. She digs it out, being scrupulous in ensuring that the gun is well out of her caretaker’s sight. A notification from her chat app is blinking at her, she quickly opens it, hoping for a moment that it’s from her parents. Those hopes are dashed as she sees Ryuji’s contact information instead, with an attachment linked. She downloads it and finds that it’s a picture of a medium sized black case. Underneath is another message.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Check this out! The guy was a bit more of an asshole today, kept asking why I needed another gun so soon after the first but he took my money sooooo I guess it’s all cool!

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** I’m gonna be relying on you to help me out with all of Kamoshida’s bullshit tomorrow. For real, we’re gonna make that asshole pay for what he’s done right!?

Smiling, Akira quickly texts an affirmative and makes a mental note to ask more about what weapon he picked out later as a polite cough from Sojiro draws her attention back to him.

“Jesus, were you even listening? Kids these days, you’re all magnetized to your damn phones every second of the day. Just stay away from sketchy people okay? Don’t make this year any harder for either of us than you have to.

_Kind of hard to stay away from ‘sketchy people’ when one of them is literally a teacher in my school._ Akira thinks to herself dismally. 

“I’ll do my best Sojiro-san.” Akira sighs as she adjusts her bag and walks towards the attic, not wanting to meet his eyes. She makes it almost to the stairs before Sojiro calls out to her.

“I’m heading home for the night, I’ll lock everything up so don’t go wandering outside, you got that?” When Akira turns she can see Sojiro staring at her expectantly, she nods and trudges up the high steps into her room. Her phone goes off, and once again it’s a message from Ryuji. She smiles as she reopens their conversation and reads his message.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** So I got that freaky red eye app thing on my phone now…

**Akira Kurusu:** Oh. Don’t bother deleting it, it hasn't worked for me yet.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** For real!? That’s super messed up!

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** You worried that it’s someone sneaking in and reinstalling it when you’re sleeping?

**Akira Kurusu:** I am now!

**Akira Kurusu:** Being serious though, I think someone’s sending it to us online somehow. No idea how or why though, we’ll have to ask Morgana if he knows anything about it.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Sounds good, no use worrying about shit we can’t solve right?

**Akira Kurusu:** I wouldn’t say don’t worry but it’s just a problem for later right now. What kind of gun did you get from that shop?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** I got something called a pump action shotgun! The guy said that these things hit super hard, which is freaking awesome!

Akira smiles, Ryuji’s excitement quickly becoming more and more infectious the more she spends time with him. 

**Akira Kurusu:** Just remember to read through the manual carefully!

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Yeah yeah I got the pamphlet thing right here. I kinda have to read it now, the shotgun’s kinda big so I have to learn how to take it apart just to get it into my damn bag.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Either way, just wanted to ask about the app. I’m gonna get back to putting this baby together, I’ll send you a pic of the finished product!

**Akira Kurusu:** Sounds good, I’ve got to take a better look at my own gun as well, that and I still have to study.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Studying at a time like this? Laaaaaaaaame. See you tomorrow!

Akira stares at her chat app again, this time opening the chat with her parents. She sits on her bed and stares at the screen which is still only populated by the texts, the lies, that she’s sent her parents the past few days.

_What else am I supposed to tell them? ‘Hey mom, dad, guess who nearly got gored to death by a bull headed demon monster in a world created by a gym teacher’s distorted desires? Oh, and guess who shot said bull demon monster to death with a gun? That’s right, the one, the only Akira Kurusu, your beloved daughter!_ Akira laughs to herself. “I sound absolutely insane don’t I?” The quiet attic responds in silence and Akira sends her parents another message.

**Akira Kurusu:** Hey, I just finished with my second day of school! It wasn’t that bad actually, I already made a new friend here! I still miss being home with you guys though, can’t wait for this year to be done.

With the message sent, and another lie told, Akira plugs the phone into its charger and looks at the workbench by her bed. It’s still massively cluttered, with a clear plastic tarp covering the entire mess. “This looks like it would be a nice spot to work… It might even have tools if I need them.” Akira muses to herself.

Changing out of her Shujin uniform and into her more comfortable pajamas Akira gets to work clearing off the bench for use. It’s not a quick process, as a number of books have to be moved from it. Out of curiosity she dusts off one of the covers and reads the title, “ _Cognitive Psience: An Introduction to the Collective Unconscious_ , written by Wakaba Isshiki.” She pauses for a minute and opens the cover and finds that it’s not a book but rather a bound copy of a large dissertation paper. “I didn’t think Sojiro seemed like the scholarly type…” She says, setting the book down and heaping more on top of it as she makes several neat piles of books to clear space off on the workbench.

Akira grows hopeful with every book she removes as she can see a plethora of tools and other helpful items either haphazardly scattered about the surface of the desk or in messy piles in the toolboxes that sit towards the back. As she finishes, Akira quickly organizes the tools and moves all of the books next to the bookshelf.

With the workbench finally clear Akira gently removes the gun from her back, lifting it up and looking closely, she finds that the weight is different from before and the hard plastic has a different sheen to it than it did in the Metaverse. Taking out the manual as well she gets to work disassembling the pistol and learning its parts.

The sun sets long before Akira finishes studying her latest tool for Metaverse exploration. Looking around for a place to stash the gun, as well as her knife, Akira finds the perfect hiding place in the form of a somewhat loose floorboard next to her bed. Pulling it up gently reveals a small alcove, gently placing the weapons, along with the leftover medicine Morgana gave her inside and firmly planting the board back in its original position.

Laying down on her bed Akira closes her eyes, going over the mechanics of how her weapon works as well as the safety measures that she had managed to find about gun handling online, letting these thoughts help her drift off to sleep.

***

Sleep would not bring peace however, and Akira’s eyes flutter open at the sound of clinking chains and dripping water. Undeniably she’s back in her cold, dank cell in the Velvet Room. Groggily she staggers to her feet and shuffles to the bars, blearily rubbing her eyes as the three other inhabitants stare at her wordlessly. 

The little wardens stare blankly at her, although Akira feels like one of them is smirking slightly but she can’t tell which one. Their master Igor on the other hand stares at her owlishly, his overstretched grin never wavering for a moment.

“Welcome back to the Velvet Room. I wished to add to our previous conversation from the previous night, but before we delve into what must be discussed… are you becoming accustomed to this place?” Igor inquires amicably.

“Does that even matter?” Akira mumbles tiredly, the hard cot singing to her from its corner in her cell.

She’s woken quickly when the twin with the baton slams it angrily into the cell door,  
“That is no way to speak of the Velvet Room inmate! You should be groveling with joy that filth like you is even allowed in here!” The little girl all but shrieks and Akira stumbles away from the bars at the anger she displays.

Chuckling, Igor gently chastises the warden “It’s quite alright Caroline. I suppose that any human whose heart reflects such a dismal state would not be comfortable being here. Regardless of that, you are right Trickster, to an extent. Your feelings for this place do not matter, since you have chosen the path of rehabilitation you are now bound to the goal of averting ruin.”

Akira blinks, before slowly, cautiously stepping back up to the door, keeping Caroline within her line of sight as she does so. “To an extent?” She questions quietly, preemptively leaning away from the door as Caroline raises a brow. “Is that supposed to mean my feelings _do_ matter in some way?”

The hook nosed man claps once, the sharp sting reverberating eerily throughout the prison. “Very perceptive of you. Yes, your emotions do matter… After all, Personas are the strength of one’s own heart. If you were emotionless then a Persona could never have awakened within you. There is however another matter in which your emotions shall come into play, I believe you experienced it earlier today.”

Akira scrunches her eyebrows in confusion and when Igor doesn’t elaborate she stares at the feet of the twins as she searches her memory for an answer. A few moments pass and she looks at Igor, bewildered.

With a sigh Igor lifts his head from where it rests atop is hands, the first time he’s moved since she woke up. “I believe you made a deal with that boy today, the one who awoke to the same power as yourself? Did you not feel anything during that time?”

_That voice in my head!_ Akira thinks with a shock. “The Chariot Arcana?” She answers uneasily.

Igor nods almost imperceptibly, “Yes, you forged a bond with that young boy and in doing so began the process of strengthening your own heart. You’ll find many on your path to rehabilitation who are like you, robbed of their places to belong… You’ll find that they shall be useful to you in ways that may not be immediately apparent.”

Caroline cuts in shortly after “There are countless people in the world you have talents that a weakling like you doesn't! If you have any brains left in that head of yours you’ll find them and learn from them!”  
Akira frowns, shaking her head “Wait a minute, finding people to help me? That would mean bringing them into the Metaverse, and that’s far too dangerous! I’m not going to put people in harm’s way for the sake of my ‘rehabilitation’.”

This time Akira holds her ground as Caroline smacks the bars, causing the entire door to rattle on its hinges wildly. Justine quickly steps in to calm the raging Caroline before turning to Akira.

“You are not the only one capable of awakening to the power of Persona. There are others who are strong willed who will be able to do the same. There will also be those who are not suitable for Personas, but will still be able to aid you regardless. It is up to you to find them and determine their true worth to you in your rehabilitation.” She says quietly before stepping back to her post at the side of Akira’s cell.

“Well said Justine. As I’m sure you’ve found in your endeavors over the past two days, the Metaverse is quite the dangerous place. Traversing it is not something that you will simply be able to do on your own, you will need not only powerful allies, but trustworthy ones as well. Finding companions with both of these traits is no easy feat however, I do hope you are up to the task.” Igor muses in an almost idle fashion from his desk.

Akira looks down, conflicted, _They’re right… I can’t pretend like I can do any of this Metaverse stuff on my own and even with Ryuji and Morgana, if we had stayed even a little bit longer in Kamoshida’s palace we probably would’ve died! Even with that, it’d be irresponsible to pull other people into my messes wouldn’t it?_

“I’ll consider it, but I don’t want to just drag others into this for the sake of my own rehabilitation. If I can’t find any others then I’ll do the best that I can with what I have.” Akira affirms, as if she’s trying to challenge Igor’s authority. 

The master of the Velvet Room simply laughs at her attempted bravado, “The decision is not yours to make Trickster, the people you form bonds with are not the mindless drones that have allowed stagnation. They will have thoughts, feelings, and plans all their own. I suggest that you take that into account before saying such things. For example; I am a tool at your disposal, one that I expect you to use if your rehabilitation is to be successful… I do believe that the Fool Arcana would be best suited for this occasion.”

Igor snaps his long and narrow fingers and a second later the echo reverberates in her chest. Once more the sound of chains breaking faintly fills Akira’s ears and she clutches her chest in surprise. _So that snapping feeling is coming from him?_ Before she can ask any more questions the alarm klaxons sound.

“Done so soon?” Igor muses behind his desk “Hm. No matter, you’ll come to understand everything in due time. Continue to devote yourself to your rehabilitation Trickster.” And just like the previous trips before, Akira’s vision goes black only to awaken in the real world seconds later.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly she yawns and stumbles out of bed to get ready for the day. A notification from her phone draws her attention first however and Akira quickly unlocks her phone. It’s not a message from her parents like she’d hoped but rather a picture from Ryuji of a gun with wood finishing and a short barrel. She smiles and compliments him for putting it together so quickly before gathering her things and getting ready for the day.

***

Another uncomfortably cramped train ride later finds Akira following the stream of students towards Shujin Academy. During her walk she feels someone tap on her shoulder lightly, stopping her music and pulling her headphones down around her neck. Akira turns, expecting to see Ryuji excited to talk about their plans for the day or even that red haired freshman from the day before. 

What she doesn’t expect is Takamaki-san looking somewhat guilty, shifting her weight back and forth in her light brown boots. The cognitive version of the girl flashes in Akira’s mind, wearing nothing but that small bikini and high heels. Akira blushes gently and looks away in embarrassment as she blinks the image away. Standing slightly behind Takamaki-san is a girl with jet black hair tied in a loose ponytail, she nudges Takamaki-san from behind lightly, a small, kind smile on her face. 

This pushes the blonde haired girl into action “Morning Kurusu-san, I…” She trails off, almost uncertainly, as Akira waits, tilting her head curiously, “I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday, I was kind of being a dick to you when you were just trying to help me.”

Just as Akira’s about to reply when the black haired girl gives Takamaki-san another light push, “I’m getting there Shiho, jeez talk about impatient!”

The girl, Shiho, merely raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. The blonde turns back to Akira again “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out with us during the volleyball event? Shiho won’t be able to be with us the whole time because she’s on the team, but we can all hang out together after if you want?”

Akira can feel her blood go ice cold in an instant, her gaze snapping to Shiho as she tries her hardest not to look concerned. _She’s a part of the team? She could have information about Kamoshida, but on the other hand I don’t think Takamaki-san would take me asking those kinds of questions very well, since she seems pretty close to this girl._ Quickly plastering on a smile Akira bows slightly.

“I’m thankful for the offer, but I already promised that I would hang out with someone else during the event today.” She says, using Ryuji as an excuse to decline their invitation.

Shiho speaks up for the first time, “ That’s too bad, but it’s good to hear that you’re making friends! Ann here knows that it can be hard to fit in sometimes, especially with all those awful rumors going around. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Shiho Suzui and like Ann said, I’m a starter for the volleyball team here!”

Akira nods and introduces herself in turn, trying not to let her mounting concern show. Thankfully the other two girls rush ahead of her to get to class, leaving her behind in the growing throng of students looking to get to class. “I’ll have to ask Ryuji about those two later… maybe we could talk to her as a last resort if this doesn’t pan out.” She whispers to herself as she pulls her headphones off her neck and places them back over her ears for the remainder of the walk.

She passes Niijima-senpai as she goes, the older girl fixing her with a sharp look as she goes. Akira feels mounting disappointment as the other girl leaves her view. _I had hoped she’d be different, I guess Sojiro’s idea of asking her for a position helping with student council is off the table too. I doubt she’d want a delinquent tarnishing its reputation._

With a thoroughly soured mood Akira walks into Kawakami-sensei’s classroom, the whispers and dirty looks a constant, shadowy companion even now.

“Dude I heard she kneecapped a chick for beating her in track and field day! I don’t wanna play against her in volleyball. I value my kneecaps!” She hears one of the scrappier looking boys in her class whisper, she hears his companion as well.

“Yeah fuck no, why would they even let her participate in P.E.? She’s probably one of those psychos who takes things too far and actually tries to hurt other people.” 

_No I don’t! I don’t even like participating in these things, and ‘kneecapping’!? I wouldn’t ever hurt someone unless it was self defense and there were no other options! Seriously why are people just calling me psycho when I haven’t ever done anything?_ Akira thinks despondently as she sets her bag by the legs of her desk and slumps into her seat. 

Her chair squeaks a bit as she does and a good portion of the students around her jump at the sound, sending anxious glances in her direction every so often. Akira resists the urge to groan and settles for putting her head down on her desk, using her arms like pillows. She doesn’t get a chance to relax for long however as Kawakami-sensei shuffles into the room, visible rings under her eyes and a disinterested expression on her face.

“Alright class, settle down. Kurusu-san, lift your head up, this is not the time to be sleeping.” She drones, leveling a lethargic glare at Akira, who does as she’s told, still choosing to stare at the desk rather than the teacher. After a moment Kawakami-sensei begins her daily announcements. “As you’ve probably already heard, today is the day of the volleyball rally so go get changed and head down to the gymnasium once you’ve finished. Everyone clear on what to do? Good, class dismissed.” She says, waving her hand and leaving the room without another word.

_Changing? Shit, that’s right we’ll be in our gym clothes for this…_ Akira rubs her forearms as she starts to panic slightly. She slowly makes her way to the girls locker room, hoping that if she walks slow enough the rest of them will be gone by the time she gets there. Luck is not in her favor however as she would have had to push her way through if the other girls didn’t see who she was and instinctively back away from her, allowing Akira a clear path to her locker. 

As she gathers her gym clothes Akira can feel all of their eyes on her and the whispers return.

“Do you think she really has a tramp stamp?” One girl questions, another girl gives a hushed whisper in response.

“I thought it was a yakuza tattoo she got with a guy she dated who was with them and that’s why she always wears long sleeved shirts?”

_Please stop looking at me, I don’t want anyone to see me like this._ Akira begs mentally, the whispers steadily grow louder and the girls seem to lose their fear of her when she’s not looking at them. The growing panic she felt earlier roars to life in her chest and Akira’s breathing quickens, her mind kicks into overdrive and provides her with an awful, cruel idea. 

Desperate for the attention she’s gained to go away, Akira adopts the most threatening tone she can, half turning her head to give the other girls an angry glare. “Something you wanna say to me, you little bitches?” She rasps, hoping to sound intimidating.

Each word feels foreign and sharp as she says them, and the panic is replaced with a sinking feeling of guilt. The ruse is immediately effective though, and the girls scramble to either change or leave the room, not a single pair of eyes comes even close to her direction as to not incur her ‘wrath’.

With her antisocial wall of privacy now firmly in place Akira changes into her pants before very quickly putting the required tee shirt and jacket on, making sure to pull the sleeves just over her wrists. When she’s done changing she steps out of the changing room, now very aware of the frightened stares that surround her.

_I just bullied all of those girls into doing what I wanted. I feel… dirty, I should be better than this._ With a downturned head she makes her way to the gymnasium. Luckily once she gets there no one wants to choose her for a team and the teachers allow her to be overlooked so she doesn’t have to participate. Ryuji is in the same boat, and she finds him sitting against one of the gym walls, idly watching the games with a truly bored expression on his face.

That quickly changes when Akira approaches him however, he shoots up and walks over to her with a massive grin on his face. “So is that shotgun just the coolest freakin’ thing or what?”

Snapping from her funk, Akira nods “Yeah, it looked really good too. It didn’t set you back too much did it?” 

Ryuji shakes his head “Nah, I had to use more of my allowance than I usually would, but if my mom asks about it I’ll just say I blew it at the arcade. She won’t be super happy about it but hey it’ll be fine right?” He shrugs his shoulders and lets out an easygoing laugh before nudging her gently. “We should probably go sit down, otherwise Kamoshida’s gonna yell at us for ‘distracting players’... god this event’s such a joke. It’s just a glorified Kamoshida circle jerk!”

The two sit quietly for the event, only ever breaking the silence for brief moments to discuss their strategy for approaching victims. They quickly realize the entire process is hampered by Akira, due to her now inherent unlikability after the rumors, _the impression I left with those girls doesn’t help either._ Akira thinks to herself dejectedly.

She’s pulled from her thoughts however when a loud thump sounds right in front of her. Looking up she sees a blue haired boy on the floor with a volleyball bouncing away from him on the floor. It doesn’t take long before she can see blood dripping from his nose, which he desperately tries to plug with his fingers, visibly recoiling in pain as they touch his nose. 

Kamoshida slowly approaches the boy and bends down to look at him. After a moment he helps the boy stand and turns back to the other teachers. “I’m going to take him to the nurses office, it might be best if we call this off for now.” and just like that the games are over. 

Ryuji turns to Akira, suddenly determined, “This is our shot, now that we have free time to wander around we should start questionin’ some of these guys!” He whispers to her quickly as he gets to his feet. Akira watches his head swivel as he locks onto one of the volleyball team members he recognized from the dungeons and quickly takes after the other boy. Akira follows suit, deciding not to share her idea about questioning Suzui-san.

***

The investigation goes beyond poorly, with most students being hostile towards Ryuji and a few flat out refusing to speak with Akira in the room. Only one boy even so much as hints towards any of Kamoshida’s aggressions, immediately clamming up when the two admit that they have no concrete proof of any of it.

With no proof or believable testimonies from other students Ryuji and Akira retreat to a small area just outside the doors to the school’s field. Ryuji grabs himself a soda from the nearby vending machine and sips at it irritatedly. “Gah, that’s such bullshit! They are so being abused, but won’t say shit because nobody’ll take their word over that fuckin’ Kamoshida. What a goddamn joke, it’s like he really _is_ the king of the school!” He gripes angrily, venting to Akira, who had been staring at the concrete slab beneath her feet absentmindedly.

It hurt to watch people shy away from her on instinct and seeing it happen multiple times after what she did in the changing rooms didn’t improve her mood as she sulked. The two sit in frustration as they try to come up with new ways to prove Kamoshida’s guilt that wouldn’t end with them telling authorities ‘He has a massive castle made from his wishes and desires and that it’s ruled by another version of him that doesn’t wear any pants’. Akira lets out a groan, surprised when it garners a reply. 

“You two look like you’re having a wonderful time enjoying the volleyball festival.” It’s a cold, calculating voice that calls to the two and Akira looks up to see Niijima-senpai glaring back at her with an intensity that was even harsher than it was in the morning.

Ryuji scoffs, irked by her presence, “Yeah, love being forced to watch that dickbag teacher do whatever he wants for an entire day. Really gets me fired up, y’know?”

Niijima-senpai’s eyes seem to flare an even brighter red for a moment “Language.” She warns as her glare briefly highlights him, before inevitably returning to Akira, who meets the gaze uneasily, trying her hardest not to look away. 

“You’re free to go Sakamoto-kun, I have business with Kurusu-san..” The older girl adds evenly, the glare still not going away.

“Hell no I’m not leavin’ you here with her you-.”

“Ryuji!” Akira hurriedly cuts him off, a pleading look in her eyes, “I’ll be fine, besides I think it’s best if we call it a day for now.” The boy thankfully obeys, casting her another concerned look as he rounds the corner and heads back towards the main entrance of the school. As the two listen for the door closing Niijima-senpai takes two steps towards her before stopping.

“I have heard several reports from concerned students to members of the student council, myself included, that you threatened violence against several girls today in the locker room… does this sound familiar?” She prods directly, not bothering with more frivolous conversation.

Akira splutters in shock “Wa-wait, violence? I never threatened them with anything!”

The rebuttal is lightning quick and for a second Akira thinks she’s back in the interrogation cell, the thought is anything but pleasant. “So you didn’t tell them ‘If you don’t stop staring at me right now I’m going to leave you breathing through tubes for the next six months’?” 

“No! I mean, I asked them if they had anything to say to me… and may have called them bitches. That’s it I swear! I never threatened to do anything to them, I promise!” 

The stare is finally broken as the student council president pinches the bridge of her nose. “Alright, assuming I believe you, why did you do that then? You’re in enough trouble as it is. You’ve got to be quite the idiot to cause problems like that if you understand your situation.”

Akira pulls her feet up onto the bench she’s sitting on and presses her knees tightly against her chest, rubbing her forearms gently as she talks, “I… I really don’t feel comfortable changing around other people, and they just kept staring at me, and talking, and waiting for me to do something like some kind of animal in a cage, and before I knew it I just lashed out. I know what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry about that. I was just so nervous and scared, and…” She trails off as she stares at her own knees, not wanting to meet Niijima-senpai’s eyes.

The brunette doesn’t say anything for a bit before humming doubtfully. “Well. Regardless, you should try harder to keep yourself in line, discomfort or no it’ll reflect badly on the school if we have to deal with a problem student so soon after taking one in.” She pauses, “Look at me, Kurusu-kun.”

Akira raises her head and is met with those violently red orbs, for a moment they seem less harsh, but she can still see the calculating nature behind the eyes as the upperclassman continues.

“I’ve also been asked by the school to give you private tutoring to ensure that you pass your first set of exams, and I suggest that you take them seriously, as anything less than a passing grade will most likely end in some form of punishment. Now, I’d like for us to meet at least twice a week to ensure that you’re not only caught up with the fundamentals, but also adapting properly to Shujin’s courses, I recommend that we meet every Tuesday and Thursday until the exam, does this work for you? I should add that failure to show up without a proper reason or notice will be reported to Kawakami-sensei, I will not have my time wasted.” Niijima-san finishes, looking at Akira expectantly.

_I have to spend time getting tutored by the student council president for the exams!? This is going to be a problem for our investigation into Kamoshida’s castle… I already promised Morgana that I’d go with him tomorrow as well! If I ditch Niijima-senpai to help him though, it’ll get me into so much trouble… crap._ Akira winces and lowers her head. “That will work for me Niijima-senpai, where do you want me to meet you tomorrow?”

Niijima-senpai smiles, like a cat that’s just caught a canary, “I’ll meet you in your classroom, that’s where I told Kawakami-sensei I’d meet you originally but after tomorrow I expect to see you in the library within five minutes of classes ending..” Seemingly finished, the red eyed girl turns on her heel and walks neatly, almost in a march, back into the school.

Akira’s shoulders deflate as the other girl leaves and with a sigh she digs out her phone, messaging Ryuji.

**Akira Kurusu:** We’re going to have to wait until Friday to pick up our investigation again.

She gets a response back almost immediately 

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** What the hell for!? Didn’t we promise that cat we’d show?  
  


**Akira Kurusu:** Look, Niijima-senpai just forced me into tutoring, and apparently if I don’t meet her every Tuesday and Thursday the school’s going to punish me so my hands are tied here, Morgana is going to have to wait a day.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** That fucking blows.

  
_Yeah,_ Akira thinks as she puts her phone away and walks towards the changing rooms with her head down. _It really, really does._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a thought just occurred to me over the week, seeing as I intend to write Makoto and Akira's relationship throughout the entirety of the game what would you like to see in regards to physical intimacy/sex? I don't intend to turn the entire story into smut, but how would you feel about a scene or two in the story? Feel free to tell me what you'd like to see in the comments.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so there will be smut in the series! Just, you know, not for a long while.

The evening after the volleyball rally is a dull affair that sees Akira straight home without any further incidents. When she arrives at Leblanc there are a few people filling some of the booths and Sojiro gives her a nod before pointedly glancing towards the stairs. Taking the hint she goes to her room quietly, changing into her pajamas before flopping down onto her bed, deciding to pull out her notebooks and go over her notes for tomorrow.

 _Niijima-senpai…_ Akira’s mind begins to drift as she taps the tip of her pencil against her books, _Why were you so insistent on me showing up to these sessions of yours? With how most people are treating me, they’d celebrate if I decided to ditch them. Why are you different, it’s not like you see anything other than my record anyway so why are you putting in so much effort?_ “It’d be a lot easier for everyone if you didn’t.” She mumbles to herself, the sound of her own voice against the silence of the attic breaking her out of her internal rambling. Pulling her headphones over her ears Akira selects some light pop music and allows the cheery sounds to fill her mind as she refocuses on studying. 

After a few hours of this she notices that the lights downstairs have gone dark and she assumes Sojiro has finished for the night. She pokes her head downstairs, checking to make sure that the sign was flipped to close in case he called while she was listening to music. Thankfully it is, and the door is locked shut as well. 

When Akira returns to her room she finds that she now has messages from Ryuji that she hadn’t noticed from before.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Hey I forgot to mention something

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** I went and had a chat with Mishima after miss prez had her little talk with you. He fessed up but says no one’ll say shit because Kamoshida’s helping em win, what kinda bs is that?

**Akira Kurusu:** Which one is Mishima?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** The blue haired guy who got spiked in the face by Kamoshida today? How do you not know him hes in your freaking class

**Akira Kurusu:** Ah that’d be why, I haven’t really bothered learning most people’s names honestly. Not like they’re itching to learn mine.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Shit forgot about that.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** My bad.

**Akira Kurusu:** It’s no big deal, but this Mishima guy, he confirmed that the players are being abused? Did he give you anything concrete that we could use?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Thats the worst fucking part. I was getting somewhere with the guy but out of nowhere Kamoshida shows up and Mishima just fucking shuts down! 

**Akira Kurusu:** Kamoshida saw you gathering info? Are you okay?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Yeah Im just fine, bastard isnt stupid enough to pull shit in broad daylight. Just chewed me out nothing new.

**Akira Kurusu:** Good, but if he knows I think we should lighten up our investigation a bit for tomorrow, if he thinks we have a serious chance to take him down he might start doubling down on the abuse to get his students to stay quiet.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Shit didnt even think of that. Its fine theres only one person left I wanted to talk to anyway. That damned groupie of his.

**Akira Kurusu:** Groupie?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Yeah Takamaki? That blonde chick in the bikini at the palace? Rumor is that shes been dating Kamoshida for a while. Shes also got a friend whos a starter on the team. Shiho Suzui. You said you wanted to look into the girls team as well right? Thats gonna be our best bet.

Akira gulps as she reads the message, and there’s a long pause before her reply comes.

**Akira Kurusu:** I don’t think that’s such a good idea Ryuji.

**Akira Kurusu:** I met Suzui-san yesterday before the volleyball rally, her and Takamaki-san invited me to go to it with them. They seem really close and I don’t think that asking those kinds of questions is going to get us the answers we want.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** What!? You should’ve totally gone with them! That wouldve been an information gold mine!

**Akira Kurusu:** I don’t think so, if the guys wouldn’t want to talk to us then the girls wouldn’t be any better. Not to mention, what if you’re right about Takamaki-san?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Right about what?

**Akira Kurusu:** What if she really is dating Kamoshida? If we went after her with all of these questions about him, don’t you think she’d tell him exactly what we’re doing and get us in even more trouble than before?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Shit never thought of that.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Got any other ideas then because Im fresh out.

**Akira Kurusu:** None at the moment. I think going back to that castle on Friday will be our best bet, would you mind going back into the Metaverse to tell Morgana about the change of plan? I’m worried he might get impatient and do something without us.

**Akira Kurusu:** You shouldn’t have to go in further than the entrance, it’d be too dangerous if you went beyond that, would you mind doing that while I go to my tutoring session with Niijima-senpai?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Oh yeah that cat forgot about him. Yeah Ill go tell him about the shit thats been happening no worries if anything youre the one in trouble lol.

**Akira Kurusu:** Really, how so?

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Little miss prez is a total stone cold bitch, as strict as they come dude. I heard she kicked another kid off student council for showing up late to one meeting.

**Akira Kurusu:** Aren’t teachers the people who have that power, not the student council president? That’s how it was with my school.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** That’s the thing, miss prez is basically the teachers pet, but with every teacher. They all call her the perfect student and shit. Seriously they fucking adore her.

**Akira Kurusu:** That’s kind of alarming actually, guess that means I have really have to take this seriously then. I’m going to go to sleep now, don’t want to show up tired to our first meeting if she’s like you said.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Yeah I get it, see you tomorrow!

Closing her chat with Ryuji and opening the one with her parents, Akira tries not to frown as she sees that there’s still no reply from either of them in their group chat. Regardless, she types out another message, hoping it still sounds cheerful.

**Akira Kurusu:** Well, another day finished! We had a volleyball rally today, which was pretty fun. It turns out our P.E. teacher is actually an olympic medalist in volleyball, he coaches our teams at school. I’m also getting tutored by the student council president starting tomorrow, so no worries about me keeping my grades up! I miss you a lot, hope things are going well back home.

She sighs as the message is sent. This one isn’t as bad as the previous day’s, at least the lies in it have a kernel of truth this time, unlike the last one. _How much longer am I going to keep lying to them? It’s not like telling them the truth would be any better though, at best I’d be acting like a spoiled brat, complaining about the situation I forced them into and at worst I’d seem insane._

Akira lies back in her bed, plugging her phone in and taking her glasses off, putting them next to the phone. The moon is clearly visible through the thin curtains and the soft blue that coats the room is a small comfort as she drifts off to sleep.

***  
  


She considers it no small mercy that her sleep goes uninterrupted by Igor and his creepy assistants in the Velvet Room as she wakes, stretching with a yawn before dragging herself through her new daily routine. The trains are packed yet again, and she feels suffocated as the passengers crowd around and against her without a care for personal space. 

When she finally makes it to school she sees Niijima-senpai at the gate once again, the red eyed girl stares at her expectantly and Akira nods to her nervously as she walks by, taking off her headphones and stowing them in her bag. She wishes she could keep them on in the halls as the whispers start up again, agitated by her actions the previous day.

“Don’t look at her, I heard she threatened to stab some of the girls yesterday in the locker room for just glancing at her!”

“Seriously? That’s super fucked up man, what a psycho bitch. Shit, do you think she heard me!?”

Akira sighs and adjusts her glasses to sit more comfortably on her face as she makes her way over to her seat, keenly aware of how people watch her. She isn’t granted reprieve when she sits however as Takamaki-san immediately turns around to face her, a glare on her face like the one from two days ago.

“I heard about what happened in the locker room, just what kind of person are you?” She hisses, “One second you’re acting all innocent and the next you’re some kind of psycho. I don’t care what your game is, but stay away from Shiho or we’re gonna have problems. I don’t know what she sees in you, but she’s being far too forgiving for her own good. I don’t trust you, so just keep to yourself, got it?” 

Akira can’t even muster a defense, she just stares shocked, a forgotten reply on her half open lips. She doesn’t even get the chance to as a few seconds later Kawakami-sensei walks in and Takamaki-san whips around in her seat like nothing ever happened. Akira has more trouble paying attention to the lessons than she usually would for the rest of the day.

When the lunch hour rolls around Akira quickly starts walking towards the vending machines that she and Ryuji had been at the day before, when they were interrupted by Niijima-senpai. As she approaches the door however it’s blocked by a familiar head of raven black hair. Gulping, Akira approaches her and coughs gently when she sees that Suzui-san is staring at her phone.

When the other girl lifts her head Akira has to resist the urge to gasp in shock. Gone is the kindly smile of yesterday, and in its place is a mousy look of fear and an ugly, purplish black eye.

“Oh… you wanted to get through didn’t you. I’m sorry, I’ll just get out of your way.” Suzui-san says weakly.

“No, it’s fine.” Akira quickly blurts, before awkwardly following up “Are you… are you okay Suzui-san? Because it looks like…” She trails off as words fail her, so she gestures lamely to her eye.

Suzui-san immediately shakes her head quickly “No, no I’m okay, nothing’s wrong! I’m sorry though, I really shouldn’t be spacing out.” She pauses and looks at Akira before a dull light shines in her eyes “Oh, you’re that girl in Takamaki-san’s class right, Akira Kurusu right? We met yesterday morning on our way to classes?”

Akira nods gently “Yep, that’s me.”

Suzui-san looks down for a moment “I heard you had an incident with some girls in the changing room yesterday, everyone’s been saying that you threatened to kill them. Is that true?”

It takes a bit of time for Akira to respond, caught between wanting to tell the truth and the pessimistic question of whether or not this complete stranger would even believe her if she did. “I just wanted them to stop looking at me…” Akira whispers, _I needed them to stop looking_ , she thinks as she shuts her eyes, waiting for Suzui-san to run or look down on her like the rest of the students.

It doesn’t come however, as a small hand settles on her shoulder. The kind smile is back, although it’s smaller than before and it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that. It’s not easy living under the weight of rumors is it? Ann used to be the same, people made fun of her and said so many nasty things about her because of her looks… I’m sorry, I know it’s not my business to get involved but… don’t let it get to you okay? Excuse me, I have to go now, I was going to have lunch with Ann.” 

Akira stands still as Suzui-san walks away, almost unable to process what had just happened. _Suzui-san… she isn’t afraid of me? I…_ Akira quickly continues through the door, blinking tears from her eyes as she does so.

There aren’t any more interruptions or intrusions in her day thankfully. Takamaki-san doesn’t even comment on her talk with Suzui-san after lunch, although whether it’s because the other girl told her not to, or if she even told her about it at all Akira can’t tell, and she isn’t keen on finding out which it is so she keeps quiet. As the final bell rings however Kawakami-sensei moves in front of her, standing a few feet away.

“You stay right there Kurusu-san. You’ve got someone who’d like to talk to you today, and you’d better be on your best behaviour for them!” She warns tiredly, rubbing her eyes as she does so.

Akira stands up slowly, noticing as Kawakami-sensei takes a step back when she does, the teacher opens her mouth, likely to tell her to sit back down but Akira interrupts her. “This is about Niijima-senpai tutoring me right? She told me about it yesterday and told me that she’d meet me here today as well. All I’m doing is stretching my legs before she gets here.” 

Glancing around the room, Akira sees that every single student that hadn’t immediately left when the bell rang is watching the two with rapt attention. They don’t even pretend to be looking at things or talking with another, they’ve all simply stopped and turned in the direction of their homeroom teacher and ‘the problem student’.

Kawakami notices too and she snaps at them “If you’re not here for a club or to study then you have to leave, school policy!” This spurs them into action and the entire group quickly disperses. After the onlookers leave Kawakami-sensei deflates and turns a tired glare on Akira. “And you, don’t talk back to me. I am your _teacher_ after all, you should be showing me respect.”

Akira gives a light bow “I’m sorry for disrespecting you Kawakami-sensei.” She murmurs quietly, not wanting to risk getting in trouble with the exhausted teacher. 

Her efforts don’t help however as the woman scoffs at her, and Akira watches as she rolls her eyes. “If all you’re going to do is mock me then it’d be best if you just didn’t say anything at all. I don’t need you causing any more problems in school. I have enough on my plate as it is.” She looks like she’s about to say more, but is interrupted by the sound of the door being pulled open. 

Niijima-san walks in and quickly shuts the door behind her, turning to face the pair. “Good, you decided to take this seriously, thank you for keeping her here Kawakami-sensei. Let’s go Kurusu-san, we’ve got quite a bit of material for you to get through today.”

Akira shoulders her bag “Yes, Niijima-senpai.” She sighs quietly as Kawakami quickly scoots out of her way so that Akira can leave the room. Akira dutifully follows the older girl through the halls, keeping her head down as she does. While she can already hear the whispers she doesn’t want to see their faces, she doesn’t want to look at her senpai either. She just wishes she wasn’t in the school, that she was with Ryuji and Morgana doing something that could actually help people. Wishes however, aren’t reality and she continues following Niijima-senpai like a duckling would follow its mother.

When they finally arrive at the library Niijima-senpai leads her to a table that she’s obviously saved for them, the girl’s study materials already neatly arranged as she sits down. A red eyed glare shoots to Akira as she stands next to the table uncomfortably, “Sit down so we can get started Kurusu-kun, as I told you yesterday I won’t have my time wasted. _Now_.” Niijima-senpai commands.

Akira quickly complies, sitting down at the table so that there’s another chair between her and Niijima-senpai. The other girl sets a basic workbook for first years in front of her and lists off a number of problems she wants Akira to complete. Flipping the booklet open she begins to work through the problems.

***

Nearly half an hour in and Makoto Niijima wants to growl at her new pupil. She has no idea how a student so slow could even pass some of the first year exams and with every passing second the third year buys more and more into the rumor that Akira Kurusu bribed, threatened, or extorted her passing grades from the teachers in her old school. She takes over five minutes a piece for problems that Makoto had seen average students complete in two.

That isn’t even the worst part of it however, the worst part is the tapping. Kurusu-san refuses to stop that damnable tapping, continuing to bounce the eraser end of her pencil against the notebook as she bites her lip and furrows her brow like the problems are actually difficult. Makoto Niijima is not a quitter, but the longer the other girl continues to tap the closer she gets to considering it.

“Do you need any _help_?” She asks quietly, trying to save her own sanity. It’s granted a reprieve as the tapping ceases for a moment and Kurusu-san looks up at her, brow still furrowed and lip still chewed. 

“N-no, I know this, it’s just- it’s just taking me a bit longer is all.” The younger girl stammers before returning to her work. Makoto suppresses a sigh as she returns to her own work.While the offer proved fruitless it got the tapping to stop, and Makoto considers that a win.

With the newfound silence from her table, and Makoto’s focus not quite set yet she begins to hear the students whispering.

“Hey, is that the transfer student studying with Niijima-senpai?”

“Nah, she’s probably trying to get the class president to do all her homework for her.”

“Wow she really is a piece of garbage huh? She’s so gonna _bomb_ her fucking tests.”

It takes a few moments for Makoto to realize that she’s completely stopped doing her own homework as she listens in to the students around her. It truly is the students all around her as well, she can hear the girl working at the desk gossipping about Kurusu-san with the person checking out a book, the people checking out manga in the fiction section are peeking over their books when she looks up at them. It seems like everyone is talking about the transfer student and even those who came alone are constantly peeking at her over the dividers of their study cubicles.

The tapping starts again, faster than before and Makoto feels a headache forming behind her eyes. _That damned tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-four, tap-two-three-four… wait a minute._ After a few more seconds of repetitive tapping she recognizes that it has a rhythm. Makoto sits up straight in her chair and Kurusu-san’s tapping briefly stops again as she looks up at the red eyed girl over the rims of her glasses.

 _She always has those big headphones on whenever she walks to class… She had them that day at the subway as well…_ Makoto has to do everything in her power to stop herself from slamming her head into the table. _I’m such an idiot!_ Gathering her materials she gets her junior’s attention “Kurusu-san, pack your things and follow me.”

The girl scrambles as she responds “Wait, I- I can do this, it isn’t that hard it’s just that I- give me some more time please Niijima-senpai?”

Makoto shakes her head “No, pack your things and follow me. I won’t repeat myself again.” The girl hangs her head but thankfully complies, gathering her study materials and her bag and staying close to Makoto as they enter the hall. They take a left and Makoto immediately stops them at the next door, confusing the younger girl. 

Opening the door Makoto looks inside the student council room, pleased to see Itsuki and Oda, a third year and second year respectively, going over the plans for the field trip that they’re going to have at the end of May. The two offer her friendly waves as she steps in, beckoning for Kurusu-san to join her. That’s where the friendliness ends for the two council members as they look between Makoto and Kurusu-san, concern clear in their eyes for their leader. 

Ignoring them Makoto turns to Kurusu-san, who is still standing in the entrance of the room, her eyes downcast as her bag hangs loosely from her shoulder. “Come on,” Makoto waves the girl forward “shut the door and have a seat at the table.” The two other council members’ expressions shift from concerned to alarmed as the transfer student takes a seat across from them.

“You have headphones on you right? Well put them on.” This gets her junior’s attention as the gloomy look she had earlier shifts to confused.

“We’re not allowed to use them in school though, I checked in the handbook.” The other girl asserts quietly, her tone still one of defeat.

Makoto resists the urge to roll her eyes, _Yes, I’m well aware that they are, you’re the delinquent here shouldn’t you be jumping at a chance to break the rules?_ Instead she shakes her head. “They are for public study areas and classes, not for private activities such as student council. I promise you won’t get into any trouble for having them out here.”

Kurusu-san then reaches into her bag slowly, tentatively pulling out a small case and unzipping it, as if she expects a teacher to come through the door and scream at her when she puts them on. Makoto watches the girl pull her phone out next and plug her headphones in before tapping several more times. Makoto pushes the booklet in front of her again and nods to it. Kurusu-san gives a small nod before affixing the headphones against her ears and tapping her phone again. If Makoto strains herself she thinks she can hear violins coming from it.

What happens next leaves Makoto staring in near awe, gone is the lip biting, forehead scrunching, and god forsaken tapping and in its place is the frantic scratching of pencil against paper. Like the trickle of a stream turns into the roar of a river Kurusu-san is powering through the booklet. Problems that had taken her minutes to solve before are solved in scant seconds. 

The other two student council members turn to watch Makoto’s latest success as well, although they don’t hide their shock nearly as well as she does. “Is any of that even going to be right? I mean she’s going so fast I don’t think she’s even reading the problems.” Oda questions quietly, most likely so that the transfer student doesn’t hear him over her music.

“We’ll see when she’s done with the problems I gave her,” A page flip interrupts the pencil scratchings “which doesn’t seem to be too much longer now.” Makoto whispers, hoping not to break the focus of the transfer student.

A few minutes later Akira stops her pencil and taps her phone again before letting her headphones rest around her neck, sliding the notebook dutifully to Makoto, still not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room. Makoto compares the somewhat messy handwriting of Kurusu-san to the official guide and her eyes widen. Nearly every single question, save for a few problems in the physics portion, is right. She checks the answers again, her gaze now constantly shifting between the booklets and Kurusu-san herself, who has taken to fiddling with the edges of her jacket sleeves absentmindedly.

 _This is a delinquent!?_ Makoto thinks to herself, still in disbelief at the results. _Her scores are almost as good as mine!_ Hiding her surprise Makoto coughs politely, gaining her pupil’s attention “That was an acceptable start, now let’s have you work on something more difficult.” And she pulls out a thick practice test booklet meant for first year finals and lays it out in front of Kurusu-san, who looks at her questioningly.

“Do you… want me to go through this whole thing?” She asks, as if unsure of how to proceed as she lifts the heavy thing gently, flipping quickly through the pages.

Makoto shakes her head “No, I’m going to set a timer for half an hour per section, so two hours total. I want you to do as much as you can within that time, I’ll tap you on the shoulder when it’s time to change sections, understand?”

The younger girl nods quickly as she pulls her headphones back on and starts the music again. Makoto taps her shoulder as she sets the timer and Kurusu-san begins the test. Once the girl gets going Makoto turns back to her fellow student council members.

“I apologize for bringing her in here on such short notice, I understand that with everything students have been telling us that having her here isn’t exactly comfortable for you. Unfortunately I don’t think she can focus properly in the library, so I’m going to be bringing her here every Tuesday and Thursday for study sessions.”

Oda shakes his head, "I would've appreciated a warning but too late for that now I suppose. Why are you even tutoring her anyway? You've never jumped at tutoring anyone before, especially not someone like her."

She shrugs "Kawakami-sensei said that she needs to pass her exams and that if I helped her with it? She'd talk to Kobayakawa-sensei about ensuring that I get my letter of recommendation."

The scratching of the pencil stops for a moment before quickly continuing. Makoto briefly glances at the problems that her pupil is on, not surprised she's getting more caught up on the harder problems.

The boy gives a chuckle "You really won't turn down any advantage you can get, will you Niijima-senpai?"

Itsuki grabs the now discarded problems booklet and reviews Akira’s answers with the answer key, her brows hiking incredibly high before sharing the items with Oda. “I’ll admit that I’m not comfortable being here with her for long periods of time, Niijima-san. Some of the things that the girls said about her aren’t confidence inspiring, and from what you told us yesterday she didn’t even try to deny threatening _physical violence_ against an entire group of girls who weren’t doing anything wrong. Do you really think it’s safe for us to be here with her?”

Makoto smooths out her skirt as she thinks for a moment. “If she ever tries to get violent or makes you feel unsafe I’ll report it to Kawakami and she’ll be expelled immediately. In all honesty though? I don’t know what to make of her. ” She throws a sidelong glance at Kurusu-san to make sure that she can’t hear them. “I never told anyone about this, not even my sister but you remember the subway accident that happened on Sunday?”

The two council members nod, looking at each other in confusion, clearly not expecting _that_ of all things to be brought up in this conversation. Makoto continues when both of them look back at her, “I was there, and I would’ve been killed by it but she,” The red eyed girl subtly gestures to the transfer student, “pulled me out of the way. She could have let me die, it certainly wouldn’t have had any negative consequences for her but she didn’t. On the other hand she’s a criminal, one with a physical assault on her record, I asked my sister to check for me when I heard the rumors about her having a record”

Oda blanches at that “You asked _your sister_ to look at her record Niijima-senpai? Well, did Kurusu-san do?” He asks with anticipation.

“Sis said that she assaulted a man who was out on a date with his girlfriend, the man pressed charges and her original sentence was to spend two years in prison but it was pleaded down to one year’s probation.” Makoto parrots her sister’s words.

Itsuki bites her lip in thought as she watches Kurusu-san’s progress with the test booklet. “Maybe she has a thing against older guys then? I heard from some of the volleyball players that she and Sakamoto-kun were asking them all sorts of questions about Kamoshida… maybe she’s one of those girls who got really into that whole sukeban culture?”

Oda shakes his head as he pushes away from the table “You go on ahead and ask her that, Itsuki-senpai, but please don’t do it when I’m in the room. If you think that she can be here without going psycho I’ll trust your judgement Niijima-senpai, how long is this going to be for though?” He asks as he begins to gather his things together.

“Only until midterms so it’s just for a few weeks, and it’s only twice a week so you won’t have to see her too often. Itsuki, will you be comfortable with this as well?” The girl nods in response to Makoto and begins packing up to leave with Oda.

The two quietly leave the student council room and Makoto is left alone with the transfer student. She checks the timer on her phone quickly and taps Kurusu-san on the shoulder when it runs out for the first time. The girl jolts slightly at the contact, giving Makoto a sheepish smile before turning to the next segment and quickly beginning that.

 _She doesn’t seem to show signs of slowing down…_ Makoto thinks, taking the time to study the other girl. Kurusu-san’s dark grey, almost onyx eyes flit across the page, beginning to end before flitting back again and Makoto almost compares it to the movement of a typewriter. She apparently makes a mistake, clicking her tongue softly and deftly flipping her pencil between her fingers as she moves to erase a section of a problem. What really surprises the senior however is the single minded focus the girl achieves. There’s no stopping to scratch an irritated itch, no eyes flitting back to the screen of her phone. 

_This girl…_ Makoto allows her thoughts to drift, any hope of getting her own studying done are thoroughly destroyed at this point. _You assault a man who had done literally nothing to you. You show up half a day late to school, with the school’s other resident delinquent by your side. You threaten to hurt other girls just because they looked at you… Yet you saved me, someone whose life probably has no value to you at risk to your own life. You’re sitting here now, without complaint doing things that, if yesterday was any indication, you don’t want to do._ _You are the most oddly behaved criminal that I have ever heard of, or is that your game?_ Makoto freezes for a moment, _Are you putting this ‘naive schoolgirl’ act with me because you think that you can get something from me? But why would she have saved me from the train then? There’s no way Kurusu-san could’ve known who I was by then!_

Her musings are cut short when the timer for her phone goes off, she resets it and taps Kurusu-san’s shoulder again. The girl flinches less this time and smoothly turns to the next section without looking up at Makoto this time. Annoyed at having been distracted by thoughts of a single girl for half an hour Makoto pulls out her calculus notes and begins reviewing them in an attempt to not waste her study time during her hours at school.

The next two sections of the younger girl’s test pass much faster as Makoto manages to refocus on her studies and when the final alarm sounds, Kurusu-san pushes the test booklet back to Makoto before settling her hands in her lap once again. 

Makoto takes the booklet and sets it in her bag, “It would be best if we called the session here for today. I’ll go over your answers during the weekend and formulate a curriculum based on your scores and what you’re lacking. We’ll start up again on Tuesday like we agreed to, except I think it would be best if we met here from now on instead of in the library. Seeing as this is the student council room, you should wait outside for me to let you in, if I’m not there before you. I also have to warn you that there will be other council members working on projects and other things while we’re here, so you will do your best to not disrupt them or distract them from their duties. If you do so, I will report you to Kawakami-sensei, do you understand?”

Kurusu-san, staring at the table, nods gently. Her voice slightly raspy after not having used it in two hours. “Yeah, I get it. Am I free to go now?”

Makoto raises a brow in surprise, _Not even a hint of pushback, no anger, no indignation. For a violent criminal she’s awfully submissive about all this. Unless that’s what she wants people to think, or maybe it’s just with me because of my position as student council president?_ Regardless of her thoughts, Makoto waves towards the exit. “Of course, you’re free to go now. Make sure not to stay however, only people studying or in clubs may be here this late after school ends.”

Her pupil gently puts her headphones back into their case before quickly standing up and leaving, not meeting Makoto’s eyes as she does. When the girl passes Makoto swears she can smell coffee practically wafting off the girl. It’s a rich smell, and a wholly pleasant one; she finds that it reminds her of spending time with her father in the public library they used to live near.

The sliding of the door breaks her reverie and she looks at it when she doesn’t hear the door close. Kurusu-san is sitting in the frame, her head tilted slightly back towards her.

“Niijima-senpai I’m no-” The girl stops herself, shaking her head as if she’s disappointed in something. “Nevermind, thanks for tutoring me.” Kurusu-san whispers quietly before closing the door softly and disappearing from Makoto’s view.

 _I’m no… I’m not?_ Makoto tries to work out as she cleans her own mess from the table. _I’m not… I’m not what?_ Makoto frowns before letting the thought slide from her head. _I shouldn’t give it much attention, she’s still just a criminal after all, it probably wasn’t a positive thought._ Pulling out her phone Makoto sees a text from her sister.

**Sae Niijima:** Sorry Makoto but I won’t be home for dinner tonight, we just hit a break in a new case and I need to stay late tonight.

Makoto sighs as she pockets her phone and begins to make her way out of the school as well, already revising her plans for her new dinner routine.

***

_‘On the other hand she’s a criminal’._ Akira mulls the phrase over in her head. She had heard their entire conversation, her music wasn’t that loud and the noise cancelling effect of her headphones couldn’t mask the sounds of conversations if they were quick or started suddenly. She can’t tell what makes her more frustrated, the fact that Niijima-senpai is so quick to dismiss a good deed because of a supposed bad one, or the fact that she had her sister, whoever that was, actually look into her _sealed_ record because of rumors.

 _Doesn’t really matter what I do here does it? Niijima-senpai doesn't even care, she's just doing this for a recommendation._ She thinks bitterly, _Someone always finds out the ‘truth’ and thinks that they can pass judgement on me because of it._ She had barely managed to keep her focus during all that, it became easier when the other two council members left but she could still feel Niijima-senpai glaring at her the entire time, those red eyes boring into her for the first half of the testing period. _This is going to be a very long month isn’t it? My record being released, the investigation of Kamoshida that we’ve undertaken, and now Niijima-senpai’s tutoring._

Walking down the stairs of the school she sees Ryuji sitting against the wall of the alleyway they had come to use as an entrance and exit for Kamoshida’s castle. He doesn’t look happy, a frown constantly twitching like he’s trying to mumble something without moving his lips. When Akira approaches curiously he shoots up, and Akira can see a number of scratches on his arms and hands when he does so.

“Finally! Damn, little miss president really is a damn slave driver huh?” He exclaims as he beckons her further into the alleyway. “Well, I did as you asked and… you’re not gonna fucking believe this.” He opens his bag, which had been lying on the ground, to reveal a furry black cat with white splotches on its body. It’s blue eyes are angry and it hisses, jumping out of the bag and shaking itself loose as it does so.

“Yes, finally is an appropriate term, do you have any idea how long I had to wait in that idiot’s _disgusting_ bag waiting for you!?” The cat yowls in annoyance, staring at Akira accusingly.

“Um. Ryuji is the cat referring to me? Actually, let’s back up a minute… Ryuji is the cat talking!?” She asks the boy incredulously.

The cat responds before Ryuji, “I’m _not_ a cat! And yes I am talking to you Frizzy Hair! It’s me, Morgana? The guy you stood up today out of the blue? Even worse, you had to send _Blondie_ here to tell me that? I even had good information to tell you too!”

 _Morgana said he wasn’t a cat. Now the cat says he’s Morgana. What the hell is going on?_ “Okay so… Morgana? I’m sorry about today, unfortunately the school is making me attend tutoring sessions after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays now for a month. It happened yesterday and we had no other way to tell you so yes, I asked Ryuji to do it.”

The cat sniffs, turning his head up for a moment. “...Fine, I suppose I can accept that as an apology.”

Affronted, Ryuji blurts “For real!? I told you all that back at the castle, but you were all like ‘You bastards are trying to screw me out of our deal huh? I knew you humans were scum!’ Before you freaking followed me out of the palace and attacked me with your little cat claws!” 

“I’m _not_ a cat damnit! And all _you_ said was ‘Akira ain’t comin’ today so don’t go into the palace.’” The cat replies in a poor imitation of the boy’s voice.

Before the two start to fight again Akira steps between them. “Guys calm down! Ryuji, you should’ve explained why I couldn’t go, and Morgana you shouldn’t be attacking people because they’re rude to you. Now you said you had information for us… what did you learn?”

“Not learn, but Blondie here was talking about trying to punish Kamoshida for what he’s done and I remembered something that you two might be interested in hearing. You both understand that Kamoshida’s castle is how he views the school, yes?”

Ryuji shrugs and Akira nods, urging him to continue, “Well, what happens in his castle is deeply connected to the depths of his heart. So if that castle were to say… disappear?” Morgana looks at Akira expectantly.

 _If his castle were to disappear? Morgana had said that palaces manifest due to the twisted desires of a person… could he mean that removing a palace would also remove said desires._ “He’d become an honest man, free of his desires?” She tries, uncertain.

The cat gives an approximation of a grin. “Exactly! Without that castle, he’ll go back to being an ordinary human, his twisted desires gone. Even though he’ll be back to normal, his crimes will still exist, as they were committed in the real world, he’ll feel an immense guilt from what he’s done and he’ll most likely seek to repent for his crimes. The best part is that since all our actions will have taken place in the Metaverse, if we take down his castle, there won’t even be a trace of our involvement!”

“Whoa, we can get Kamoshida to just give himself up if we tear down that castle of his? But… that thing’s fucking massive, I doubt we’d be able to put much of a dent in it unless we had like, construction equipment or somethin’ and that shit’s hard to get.” Ryuji hangs his head and sighs. 

Morgana on the other hand looks at him like he’s grown a second head “Construction equipment? No, what I’m talking about is his treasure, if we steal that, his castle will collapse on its own.”  
“His treasure?” Akira asks, curious as to what Morgana means, “Does the castle have a vault or something that we have to rob?”

Morgana shakes his head, “Not exactly, I’ll explain more about how that works later, provided you actually stick to your end of the deal this time. I should warn you though, stealing a palace ruler’s desires and changing their heart may have some… unanticipated side effects.”

Ryuji snorts, “What like ‘Kamoshida may have trouble getting ‘it’ up after we do this?”

“More like ‘Kamoshida may have trouble with his will to live after his palace is gone.”

The two students freeze and go pale. After a few moments Akira feels brave enough to break the silence. “What do you mean by that, if we steal his treasure is he going to commit suicide?”

The cat gives what feels like it should be a shrug “Maybe, I’m honestly not sure. Think about it though, we are stealing his desires. That includes things like his desire to live a happy life, make good life choices, or even simpler things like his desire to eat. Any of these things could be affected by the change of heart.”

“That’s a pretty big thing to be unsure about Morgana,” Akira gently chastises, “it’s one thing to want to make him confess to his crimes… but what you’re describing is essentially murder. I don’t think we have any right to make that sort of call.”

Ryuji nods “Yeah, I mean I want the guy to be punished for the shit that he’s done, but killin’ the guy feels a little extreme to me.”

Morgana gives a ‘hmph’ in response “Either way, you have until tomorrow to decide what you want to do. I’ll find you two tomorrow so don’t think you’re going to be able to flake out on me Frizzy Hair!” 

Akira gives a shaky sigh, uncomfortable at the choice Morgana has presented them with. “Okay, we’ll be waiting here for you after school ends. And Morgana?” She points to herself “Akira Kurusu, and that-” She points to her friend, “Is Ryuji Sakamoto. Please use our names from now on, it’s not nice constantly having my hair called ‘frizzy’ you know?”

Morgana nods “Okay Fri- I mean, Akira. I’ll hold you to your word about tomorrow then. I better see you both ready and waiting with an answer when I get here!” And with that he slowly walks down the alleyway.

Ryuji and Akira look after him, “Yo, do you think that cat’s got any damn idea where he’s going?” The boy asks absentmindedly, the dilemma Morgana laid before them obviously fresh on his mind.

“I have no idea.” Akira mutters before turning back to the school and the open street before them. “I’d better get going, Sojiro will be mad if I stay out too late and we’d look sketchy hanging around out here even if we weren’t the school’s troublemakers.

Ryuji nods and quickly says his goodbyes, saying something about needing more training as he walks in the opposite direction as her.

Akira quickly makes her way into Shibuya station when she finds another familiar face. Takamaki-san is waiting next to her, with a phone to her ear and several bags of clothing clutched in a white knuckle grip. Akira’s about to pull out her headphones when she catches a snippet of the conversation.

“Will you please stop? I told you I’m not feeling up to anything today!” She snaps angrily.

 _Is she having some kind of fight with Suzui-san?_ Akira thinks, as quietly and cautiously as she can, sidles as close to the blonde girl as she can, hoping not to look conspicuous. Thankfully her classmate is too absorbed in her call to notice.

“Wait, that wasn’t the deal! I didn’t agree to-... No! This doesn’t have anything to do with Shiho so please leave her out of this!” Takamaki-san’s voice wavers, like she’s on the edge of tears.

 _Not Suzui-san, she’s talking to Kamoshida! ‘Wasn’t the deal’? She’s definitely got some kind of relationship with him… maybe his cognition of her isn’t entirely false?_ Akira’s inner musings are interrupted when a bright and angry blue fills her vision. She hadn’t realized she’d been staring, and with her conversation apparently over, Takamaki-san had noticed her.

“Oh great, were you eavesdropping on me? Seriously what the fuck is your deal?” Takamaki-san growls at her.

Akira stutters for a second, uneasy “Um Takamaki-san, I don’t think anyone was really eavesdropping…”

The blonde girl whirls around to see that other students, adults, and even subway service workers are all avoiding looking near the two, all of them shuffling around uncomfortably. “Oh.” She deflates a touch, “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud. How much did you hear?” 

Wincing, Akira decides to be truthful. “The whole thing? It was kinda hard not to…” She closes her eyes and braces for another tirade, or maybe even a slap. _Takamaki-san seems like the type that’s really good at slapping people._ Her mind offers unhelpfully.

That never comes and instead she’s rewarded with another heavy sigh. “Fuck. Look, it’s nothing, you hear me? Just forget everything you heard because none of it matters okay?” When Akira opens her eyes she sees Takamaki-san quickly running away from her and for a second she watches the blonde pigtails bounce through the sea of people.

 _Nothing, huh?_ Akira thinks for a moment, _Like the court proceedings. Nothing. Like living with Sojiro. Nothing. Like dealing with being treated like a freak every day. Nothing, sure._ She quickly spurs into action, running after the fleeing girl. She almost loses her in the crowd, finding her classmate curled up into a ball near one of the exits. Her chest wracked with sobs as her head is pressed firmly into her knees.

Akira approaches slowly and lets her bag slip gently off her shoulder as she takes a seat next to Takamaki-san. “Look, I know we haven’t really gotten off on the right foot, but you can tell me what’s bothering you if you want. It’s not like anyone would believe me if I said anything even if I did… which I won’t.”

The blonde raises her head, shooting Akira a weak glare. “Why are you being so nice to me? I’ve been nothing but a bitch to you this whole time and you just keep pretending like I haven’t been acting like this. Why?”  
Akira mulls it over for a moment. _Even if you weren’t able to help Ryuji and I with our investigation into Kamoshida… I told Arsene that I wouldn’t allow others to be hurt by those in power. Abandoning you would be spitting in the face of everything I believe in._ “Because I believe it’s the right thing to do.” She answers simply. _Even if I can’t bring an end to whatever Kamoshida’s doing to you right now, I can at least lend a shoulder for you to lean on._ Akira finishes in her head. 

Several sniffles are preceded by a cynical scoff “The right thing to do huh? Most of the other girls at school would say that the right thing to do is punish me for ‘toying with Kamoshida-sensei’.”

Akira laughs at that, “Would those be the same girls who said that I dated several Yakuza members, or the ones that said I ran a drug lab back in my hometown?” She sobers up as the blonde girl looks at her curiously “Just because people say something doesn’t make them true.”

Takamaki-san looks at her now, almost pleadingly “So what is the truth then?” she gently begs.

Akira opens her mouth for a second but says nothing. After a few moments of silence she stands and offers her hand to Takamaki-san, who takes it, confused as to what she’s doing. Akira finally speaks. “Why don’t we find someplace more private and you can tell me what the truth is. I promise that I’ll believe you Takamaki-san.” 

The blonde girl wipes a tear from her eyes and gives a small smile as she starts walking towards a Big Bang Burger with Akira in tow. “Ann.” She says so quietly that Akira almost misses it.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” She asks politely.

Takamaki-san turns to face her so that she can be better heard. “Call me Ann.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks, sorry for the massive delay on this chapter, things got really busy and the urge to write kinda got put on the back burner. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to put out chapters once a week like I used to seeing as my final year of college starts tomorrow. 
> 
> I'm not sure if this needs to be a warning but just in case, this chapter has mentions and references to rape, sexual abuse, and suicide.

The Big Bang Burger is fairly empty and Akira takes a moment to look around her as the two girls order. _So this is what they look like, I’ve never actually been in one before._ She can smell grease and grilling meat wafting from behind the counter, and while the smell isn’t entirely pleasant compared to what she’s used to, it’s familiar. It reminds Akira of her family’s restaurant, and of spending entire nights with her father, perfecting new recipes in the kitchen that her parents wanted added to their menu.

She orders a small carton of fries so that she doesn’t come off as rude and Ann orders water. They take a seat in the very corner booth and very soon after their order is delivered to them. Akira takes a fry and eats it, chewing for a moment before frowning. She’s surprised when Ann picks up on it.

“Not a fan of Big Bang Burger’s fries?” She asks curiously.

Akira shakes her head, “Never had them before so I figured I’d try them. These need to be patted down with a paper towel or be left to dry for a little while after being taken out of the grease fryer, they’re practically dripping. Not to mention they need a little more salt, grease doesn’t exactly add a good flavor, and fries can get pretty bland without decent seasoning.” She explains, holding up a fry, showing how it gleams under the light of the store.

Ann sits for a moment, somewhat stunned. “Wow, I didn’t actually expect a food review here, were you some kind of critic back in your hometown? Also back up a sec, did you just say that you’ve never eaten at a Big Bang Burger? Like _never,_ never?”

Akira smiles, lowering her head somewhat bashfully, “Nope, I’ve always been too busy seeing as I worked as a cook in my family’s restaurant, and we make fries every fall as a special.” She rubs the insides of her forearms idly as she talks, “So yeah, I know a bit about this kind of stuff. My dad’s the real expert though, he can pick out a single bad fry in an entire batch!”

Ann looks surprised as she takes a drink of her water, “Huh, I never would’ve guessed that about you Kurusu-san.” Her phone buzzes and she quickly pulls it out, her face warping into a frown. “Fucking Kamoshida.” She mutters under her breath.

Akira takes this as her chance for a smooth segue, “Speaking of the devil, what’s really happening between you two? Everyone I’ve overheard always seems to think that you’re dating.”

Scoffing, Ann pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “Of course they do, the girls are jealous that I’m ‘stealing Kamoshida from them’. And the boys are angry that I’m not ‘the easy girl’ they thought I’d be! It’s just…” She trails off and puts her head in her hands. After a few seconds Akira can hear sniffling before Ann starts again.

Tearfully, the blonde continues, “All those rumors about Kamoshida and I are wrong. We’re not ‘getting it on’, I managed to avoid giving him my number for the longest time… The only reason I gave it to him now is because he threatened to take Shiho off her starting position if I didn’t. And now he wants me to go back to his place after this. You know what that means.”

Akira watches as Ann leans back in her seat, chin pressed firmly down against her chest as she stares intently at a napkin she’d begun to fiddle with. “Shiho worked herself down to the bone for that spot, and I don’t want her to lose it because of me… but I’m just so tired of it all, I can’t take it anymore. I hate him! Shiho’s my best friend though, she’s all I have left in that hellhole… So tell me, what should I do? What’s the answer?”

“I…” Akira trails off, eyes wandering around the space themed restaurant for a moment. “I think that the normal thing to do in this situation would be to take all of the messages he’s sent you to the police. If you can somehow get the records of his calls that’d be even better. Unfortunately no one else would be willing to come forward to back up your claims and the police would most likely believe Kamoshida. Ryuji and I have been finding that out the hard way.”

Ann blinks some of her tears away and tilts her head, “So that’s why people have been saying you two have been threatening the volleyball team?”

Akira sighs tiredly, her shoulders slumping a bit, “We didn’t threaten them, we were trying to find evidence of Kamoshida’s abuses. None of them really wanted to talk, some of them wouldn’t if I was in the room with them. The only one who coughed up anything was… what was it? Mishimi? No, Mishma? No that’s not right either…” She trails off, scrunching her brows as she tries to recall the boy’s name from memory.

“Uh, do you mean Mishima? Blue haired guy, super quiet in class?”

Akira nods, snapping her fingers in recognition, “Yeah that guy! Ryuji managed to get Mishima to talk a bit, but even then what he told us wasn’t encouraging… and that was _before_ they were interrupted by Kamoshida.”

The blonde scoffs lightly, “Of course, Mishima’s never exactly been a real gutsy guy to begin with… is there really nothing we can do about Kamoshida?”

Akira stops and thinks about Morgana’s Metaverse solution, and the possible consequences of such an action. For a moment she considers telling Ann about it, but decides not to. The memory of a helpless Ryuji about to be executed by the demon Moloch is still fresh in her mind. Instead she cautiously replies, “Not yet, Ryuji and I are looking into alternatives at the moment. Unfortunately nothing’s really showing any real promise.” _Except for the option that may leave the man dead or comatose, which involves myself, Ryuji, and this not-cat sneaking into an imaginary castle formed from his desires and stealing his ‘treasure’ to make him go back to normal in the hopes that it’ll guilt him into turning himself in._ Akira adds to herself silently.

Ann’s face goes downcast and she clenches her fist around the napkin tightly. “Damnit, I just… It’s so unfair that Kamoshida can do something like this to me, to Shiho. And all for his sick little fantasies! I hate him. I really fucking hate him.” She pauses for a moment, shaking her head, giving a self deprecating sigh. “Why am I even talking to you about any of this? If Kamoshida found out I’d been telling anyone about this…” She lets the sentence hang as she lets go of the napkin, letting the crumpled paper fall onto the table.

“He won’t.” Akira reassures gently, “Ryuji and I aren’t going to stop looking into him just because we haven’t found anything immediately Ann, we’re going to help you with him. I promise you that.”

Ann gives her a soft, sniffly smile, “You know, when you say it like that I really do want to believe you.” She shifts awkwardly in her seat for a moment, hesitating before asking “Are you really as bad as people have been saying you are? You’ve got that record and all but… you just don’t seem like the type.”

Pushing her glasses up, Akira strikes a dramatic pose and looks at Ann from over the rims of the glasses. “I’m bad to the bone baby.” She rasps in a poor attempt to sound like a thug. The two sit silently for a moment, Akira still stuck in her pose and Ann staring at her in open disbelief before she bursts out in laughter, hunching over the table and covering her mouth in an attempt to keep her voice down.

 _God, her laugh is beautiful…_ This is the thought that snaps Akira out of her silly pose, her face reddens as she looks down at her fries in an attempt to calm herself. _What was that?! Where did that thought even come from!_ She’s taken out of her impromptu introspection when Ann finally gets herself under some semblance of control.

Even as she talks, small giggles still make their way into the sentence. “Oh my god, you’re such a dork aren’t you?” The giggles fade and a somber look replaces them. “ Seriously though, you’ve just been so… nice to me and I feel bad for how I’ve treated you. In a way you and I are kind of the same, people are always giving me shit for things they think are true about me as well. I guess what I’m getting at is that I’m sorry, even knowing what it feels like to have people make assumptions about your life, I judged you unfairly as well… so y’know, sorry.” The blonde lowers her head in a slight bow.

Akira stares at Ann, blushing slightly before she tears her gaze away and fiddles with her hands. “I- you’re forgiven?” She stutters out embarrassed, caught off guard by the sincerity of the other girl’s apology. She eats the last of her fries in an attempt to look busy.

Ann pulls out her phone before shaking her head, “Thanks, I’m sorry for not being any help with your investigation thing though. I honestly just wish that he could, y’know, forget about Shiho and I. Fat chance of that though right?” She smiles sardonically at Akira.

“Yeah, something like that’d never happen in a million years…” Akira chuckles nervously, Morgana’s proposal at the front of her mind once more.

The blonde girl smiles gently and uses the napkin to gently wipe her eyes, “Thanks for this. Talking about it with someone’s definitely helped a bit.” She scoots out of her seat and stands, fixing Akira with a stern look “I don’t think I need to say this but, please don’t go talking about this with anyone.”

Akira stands to look Ann in the eyes “Of course I won’t, but if you need to talk about this again, I’ll always be willing to talk… just as long as it’s not on Tuesday or Thursdays.”

As the two exit the Big Bang Burger Ann shoots her a quizzical look, “That’s kinda specific, did you manage to get into some kind of club?”

Akira shakes her head woefully “I wish, I’m getting tutored by Makoto Niijima on those days, it’s a requirement to ensure I don’t fail the first exam.” 

“Ouch, I’ve heard she’s a real stickler… people talk about her a lot.” Ann sympathizes as the two walk towards the train stations.

Akira turns to her, curious “What have you heard? The only thing Ryuji’s told me about her is that she’s strict.”

  
Ann scoffs, “I’m not surprised seeing as nobody really talks to him anymore. Kinda hard to get gossip if you’re not in the loop. About Niijima-senpai though, apparently she comes from a long line of cops, like a really long line of them. Probably explains why she’s such a hard ass yeah? Probably thinks she’s ‘doling out the law’ as student council president.” She finishes exasperatedly.

Meanwhile Akira tries to stop the blood in her body from going cold. _A history in policing huh? No wonder she doesn’t like me, she probably sees me just like any other criminal then. Still I should be nice to her, I don’t want any more cops looking at me. Especially with what Ryuji and I have been doing in Kamoshida’s palace._ “Y-yeah, that sounds like it’s pretty accurate.” She stutters out, hoping not to show she’s shaken a bit by the news.

As they enter the station proper Ann says goodbye before turning and leaving away from Akira, leaving her to walk to the train to Yongen Jaya in solitude. With her headphones on, Akira quickly stuffs herself into the first available train, having taken note of just how late she’d be getting back to Leblanc. She curses quietly to herself when the train finally stops, stepping off and starting quickly from the station she manages to arrive only about five minutes later.

When the bell to the shop rings Sojiro turns from his position on a stool in front of the counter, an unimpressed, almost angry look on his face. “You’re late again. Where’ve you been this time?” He asks accusingly.

Akira eyes the floor as she replies, “I was out talking to a new friend that I made. Sorry about coming back so late, I just lost track of time talking to her.”

When she looks up at him, she sees that his eyebrows are raised a bit. “Someone wanted to be friends with you? Heh, I guess miracles do happen, just make sure that you’re not getting involved with any troublemakers. It’s not smart to go inviting any more problems into your life at the moment so don’t be stupid.” He warns her before standing from his stool and moving to leave. He yawns as he does so, throwing a somewhat sour look over his shoulder. “Jeez, think about how I feel having to stay up this late waiting for you. I have things to do myself, you know?” And with that he quickly closes the door and Akira watches as he flips the sign to ‘closed’ before locking the door and slowly walking down the street.

Turning the cafe lights off, Akira makes her way upstairs and pulls out her phone, sending a text to her parents.

**Akira Kurusu:** Hey mom and dad! I’m almost through my first week at Shujin now, it’s not so bad here now, I’ve actually made another friend today, hope you guys are doing well. Goodnight.

With that sent she plugs her phone in and changes into her pajamas before collapsing on the bed and falling asleep, hoping that the next day would be better.

***

_This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening._ The phrase rings like a mantra through Akira’s head as the world blurs around her, all but stumbling after Ryuji as the two chase after a fleeing Mishima. On every face she passes she sees the bruised and bloodied face of the girl who had given her nothing but kindness before. In her mind she can still see the scene clearly, surrounded by a halo of medical personnel and teachers is Suzui-san’s crumpled form on the grass, with Ann hunched next to her form, sobs wracking the blonde’s body as she cries out for her friend.

Ryuji was the one who had spotted Mishima desperately trying to get away from the chaos of the scene and before Akira could process what was happening she had all but dragged by the collar of her jacket through the thickening crowd of students and staff. 

She snaps from her daze when Ryuji slams the door of the large custodial closet they’d managed to trap the blue haired boy in. Without any preamble Ryuji puts his hands on Mishima’s shoulders and puts his weight behind them, slamming the other boy against the wall next to the lockers. When Mishima attempts to dart past him Ryuji slams his fist into the nearby lockers, cutting off his escape and fixing him with a glare. “Why were you runnin’ away from all that huh?” He growls angrily, his fists clenching and unclenching in tight, whiteknuckled grips.

Mishima stutters a denial and makes to move around Ryuji’s other side when Akira jumps to action, jumping beside Ryuji and crossing her arms. She stares the boy down from over her glasses, but unlike her attempt at cheering Ann up she does her best to look scary. It works, and Mishima jumps back frightened, putting him right back against the wall.

“Mishima. I understand you were hesitant to talk to Ryuji when he talked to you two days ago but things are different now. Suzui-san is being taken to the hospital because she just tried to _kill herself_!” Akira swallows, her throat dry as Suzui-san’s body flashes back into her mind. She pushes the bile that’s rising in her throat back as she continues. “You know what’s going on, you wouldn’t have run if you didn’t.”

The boy gulps and shakes his head nervously, his hands very clearly shaking by this point. “N-no I don’t, just… just leave me alone!” He stammers.

Ryuji opens his mouth to yell but Akira quickly interrupts him, stepping in front of the angry blonde and looking Mishima dead in the eyes before the boy quickly averts his eyes. “Mishima, we don’t want to hurt you. We just want to know what happened, why Suzui-san…” She pauses, struggling with what she wants to say, “did what she did. Is it right to assume that Kamoshida was involved?”

At the mere mention of the teacher’s name the boy shrinks back into himself, wincing as he does so. Ryuji quickly cuts in before Akira can stop him. “Yeah, we ain’t gonna bust you. Tell us what happened, and if any shit goes down we’ll keep your name out of it. We need to know what happened between Suzui-san and that bastard!” 

Thankfully this calms to boy down a touch but the shivering doesn’t stop. His eyes go distant and he rubs one of his arms as he begins. “I don’t really know what happened for sure but… Kamoshida-sensei he’d…” The boy gulps as if he’s trying to stop bile from rising in his throat before continuing, “He’d nominate people to go to his office for ‘special training’ when he was in a bad mood or if a student was doing bad that day. I got ‘special training’ a bunch of times. He’d beat me up for a few hours before I would be allowed to go home. But-”  
He’s about to continue before Ryuji interjects loudly “I knew that fucker was beatin’ on kids, I fuckin’ knew it!”

Akira puts a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder to silence him. When the boy goes quiet she nods back at Mishima for him to start again.

With increasingly shuddery breaths he finishes his tale. “W-well like I said, Kamoshida-sensei would only beat us when he was angry or when we weren’t performing well enough but… He was in a good mood when he told me to get Suzui-san for him. A-and she is- was the best starter we had for either team!”

As the boy continues to list reasons why Kamoshida calling Suzui-san to his office was odd, Akira’s mind replays her encounter with Ann from the previous day. “He didn’t…” She gasps, putting the pieces together, hands clasped over her mouth in open shock.

Her hunch is confirmed when the blue haired boy winces and stares at his sneakers. Ryuji sputters and turns to her, confusion clear on his face. “What are you talkin’ about what did he-” The boy stops to think and Akira can see the exact moment he figures it out. 

Ryuji’s eyes go wide and his mouth falls open as he sucks in a breath. No other sounds come out however as his jaw clenches and a deep frown sets in. Akira can hear a low growl coming from his throat before he turns on his heel and throws open the door of the custodial closet, quickly storming out. “That son of a bitch!” He yells as she watches him take off in a dead sprint, turning a corner and vanishing out of sight.

Mishima timidly steps forward, eyes wide. “He’s going to find Kamoshida-sensei isn’t he?” He asks in a daze.

Akira turns to him in a panic “Where is Kamoshida right now?” she asks desperately. _Ryuji lashed out against him once when he was angry. I don’t want to let him get hurt by Kamoshida again!_ She thinks to herself.

The boy bites his lip before he moves to leave the room, gesturing for Akira to follow. “He’s usually in the PE faculty office right now. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.” Before he quickly walks out of the room.

Akira quickly follows, all but slamming the closet door shut as she runs to catch up with the boy. The two follow Ryuji’s path up a set of stairs and cross the connecting bridge, crossing it with just enough time to hear a door slam at the end of the hall. As the two make their way towards it they can already hear Ryuji screaming at the teacher, his voice cracking harshly under the emotional strain.

“You fuckin’ bastard, what the hell did you do to Suzui-san!?” 

The two pull open the door to the office just in time to see Kamoshida lazily swivel his office chair to face Ryuji. He acknowledges their entrance with some interest, quirking his brow slightly upon seeing Akira move quickly to Ryuji. She offers him a glare, which he shrugs off as he returns his attention to the blonde boy in front of him.

“Just what are you talking about Sakamoto-kun?” He asks, feigning confusion as he interlocks his fingers in his lap, fixing the group with a smug smile. 

Ryuji lets out another growl and kicks a folding chair nearby, it clatters noisily to the ground and out of the corner of her eye she can see Morgana hiding behind a cardboard box, eyes trained intensely on Kamoshida. 

Quietly she steps over and taps the cat on the head. He jolts in surprise when she does so, but thankfully manages to stay silent. She holds her bag open and the cat gently slinks inside. The added weight feels strange, as well as his squirming to get comfortable. Thankfully the others are too engaged with each other to notice.

“Quit playin’ around sleazebag!” Ryuji yells while Akira hides Morgana. He stamps his foot on the ground in anger, his fists clenched tightly by his sides.

The smug smile fades and an authoritative frown takes its place as Kamoshida stands from his chair and stares down his nose at the group. “That is enough. I won’t stand for children throwing temper tantrums. Honestly, didn’t any of my coaching from the track team stick Sakamoto-kun?”

“What you’re doing isn’t coaching.” Mishima whispers, barely loud enough for the others to hear and Kamoshida’s head snaps to him in an instant.

“You want to repeat that Mishima-kun?” He menaces at the boy, his lips pulling into the start of a snarl. 

To his credit the boy seems to find some small amount of courage hidden within him and he points at the teacher accusingly, his finger shaking as he does it. “Y-you heard me!” The boy stutters, “You’re not a teacher you’re a bully who pushes around kids like us because you know you can get away with it!”

Akira steps closer to the group as she speaks up, “Is that why you raped Suzui-san? Because you thought that you’d be able to get away with doing it?”  
Kamoshida snorts, looking at them completely unfazed. “How sad, to think you’d make all this noise over a bunch of baseless accusations and rumors. None of you have any proof of what you’re saying… not that the police would believe you three anyway.”

He turns his gaze to Mishima, who’s now backed himself behind Ryuji, “You’re just an angry kid who’s upset that he never became a regular, now trying to get back at me for your obvious lack of skill.”

Next he turns to Akira and she shudders as his eyes travel up and down before settling on hers, a smirk clear as day on his face. “And you Kurusu-san, the delinquent. No one in their right minds would trust a word out of your mouth, hell you could say the sky is blue and people would still go outside to check!” He chuckles before his smirk turns sinister as his eyes slide back to the blue haired boy. “Of course, you have your new friend here to thank for that. Why are you hiding Mishima? That was some wonderful work you did by the way, spreading all those rumors. The internet’s such a useful tool isn’t it?”

 _Mishima was the one that…?_ Mouth agape, Akira turns to the blue haired boy in shock as he backs further towards the door and away from his fellow students. Ryuji turns to face the boy, a look of revulsion on his face.

“You were the one that spread all of those rumors about me? Convinced people I’m some sort of psycho? Why would you do something like that, what had I ever done to you?” Akira pleads with the boy, desperately trying not to allow her anger to color her words.

“I- I didn’t want to!” Mishima yelps as Ryuji takes a step towards him, “He made me do it! He told me if I spread all of those rumors he’d go easy on me… I just wanted to stop hurting.” He looks down, ashamed of himself as he pulls back into himself.

 _So he was doing it to save himself…_ Akira turns to face Kamoshida again, her anger at the boy fading somewhat. Before she has a chance to ask him why he did it, Ryuji snarls at the man. “You bastard, it’s not enough that you ruined my life, but you had to go and fuck up everyone else’s as well! I swear to god I’m gonna expose you for the dirt bag you really are!”  
Kamoshida merely gives the boy a look that is simultaneously smug and unimpressed. “Really, you’re going to do that, Sakamoto-kun? You, the student who assaulted a teacher unprovoked. You’re nothing more than a rabid dog in the eyes of this school you know that right? There isn’t a single person in the world who’d believe you.” A buzzing gets the man’s attention and he nonchalantly plucks a phone from the loose pockets of his sweatpants and studies the screen for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

“What’s so funny asshole?” Ryuji demands, stomping his foot against the linoleum tile of the office floor. The sound of the stomp is barely registerable over the sound of their teacher’s laughter.

It takes a few seconds for the laughter to subside, and when Kamoshida finally stops, his smile is wider than Akira’s ever seen and he has a nigh mad glint in his eye. For a moment she questions if she’s still seeing the Kamoshida of this reality, or the mad king of the palace.

“We’ve just received word of Suzui’s condition now that she’s stable, she’s alive but…” He breaks into a set of giddy giggles “The poor thing’s in a coma, with little to no chance of recovery. I don’t know what your plan was, but it’s hard to get testimony out of a vegetable!”

The group of students stare in open shock at the open cruelty Kamoshida displays, but it quickly morphs into different emotions as they process the news. Mishima turns to sorrow, lamenting her condition. Akira becomes alarmed at the shift in Kamoshida’s personality, watching the authoritative figure quickly devolve into excitement. Ryuji however turns to anger and his fists clench, now very visibly shaking. An arm cocks back, his fist now by his hip as he takes a step forward, he’s stopped by more giggles from the gym teacher.

“Oh, are you going to try and hit me?” He mocks, gesturing for the boy to take a swing, “Come on, let’s shoot for another case of ‘self defense’! Maybe I’ll break the other knee this time, even out that limp for you.”

Ryuji’s eyes go wide and he swears at the man, his arm winding back behind his shoulder in preparation to throw a punch. Akira quickly latches onto the arm as it rockets forward, Ryuji’s elbow coming dangerously close to clipping her in the face as she pulls him back, away from Kamoshida.

“What the hell Akira!?” Ryuji snaps, shaking her off and turning to face the teacher again. “Why’re you stoppin’ me, this asshole deserves to get decked for all the shit he’s done!”

She stops him by putting her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t let him get to you Ryuji, can’t you see that this is just what he wants?” gently gesturing to the still gloating man.

Ryuji doesn’t relax, but luckily he does relent his assault, choosing to stare down Kamoshida, who merely looks at Akira with an interested look, “Oh? You _don’t_ want him to hit me? That’s a surprise, either way why not attack me? Oh wait, that’s right! You _can’t_ , but of course you can’t!” He laughs again before settling back into his creaky rolling chair and pulling himself back up to his desk. “Everyone here is going to be expelled, I’m going to report all of you at the next board meeting.”

Akira’s stomach drops as she registers what’s been said. _I’ll be expelled? No this can’t be happening._ The warnings given to her by Sojiro flash through her mind like sirens and visions of prison fill her mind as she imagines being kicked from Leblanc, the shame of having to face her parents after not being able to stay in a school for less than a week. She’s so caught up in her torment that she nearly misses Kamoshida’s next words.

“Of course, if you don’t want to be expelled… there is something _one_ of you can do for me.” He says, leering at Akira before continuing, “Kurusu-san, if you meet me after school for ‘private coaching’, I’ll let you off the hook. If you do well enough then I’ll even consider letting these two go as well. So what do you say”

 _‘Private coaching’… just like Suzui-san’s ‘private coaching’. If I sink to that level I could keep my position at this school,I wouldn’t be failing Mom and Dad… I could even save Ryuji and Mishima as well._ Akira thinks, weighing the options of the repugnant deal in her mind when she feels the side of her bag poking her incessantly. _Morgana, why are you…_ _that plan you told us about! If Kamoshida were to have that ‘change of heart’ that Morgana was talking about then there’s a good chance he wouldn’t expel us, or force me into that… deal._

Ryuji apparently comes to his decision before Akira does, “You’re a fucking monster you know that? Akira, this guy and his little ‘deal’ can go fuck themselves, this shitty place ain’t worth doin’ _that_ to stay here, nothin’ is!” He fumes.

Nodding, Akira leans closer to Ryuji and whispers into his ear, “I know, we’re not out of options yet either. We still have Morgana!” 

The boy blinks for a second “What’s that damn cat gonna-! Oh.” A smile reappears on his face as he finally relaxes, the muscles in his arms and shoulders releasing the tension they’d built earlier. “We have _that_!”

Kamoshida turns around in his chair, “You have what? Actually, I don’t care, there isn’t a single thing you could do to hurt me anyway so go ahead! When it fails though, just remember my offer stands until the May 2nd Kurusu-san. You might even save those two idiots, all you have to do is swallow your pride.” The man swivels back to his desk and the students take their leave.

As they step out of the door Mishima dashes for the closest bathroom and Akira winces in sympathy as Ryuji huffs in disappointment. “Fuck, I’m sorry for losing my head back there. It’s just that _asshole_! How shitty can you be to learn that a girl put herself in a coma because of what you did and then just start laughing?”

Akira shakes her head, “I honestly don’t want to know how someone could turn out like that, now come on. We have to talk about what we’re going to do now with Morgana about the other Kamoshida.”

Ryuji quirks his head “Yeah, how are we gonna find the cat? I mean he’s- y’know, a cat.”

Akira steps a little closer to the boy and unzips her bag a hair, allowing a furry black head to pop out. Ears twitching, Morgana whispers angrily at Ryuji, “For the last time, I’m. Not. A. Cat!”

Ryuji jumps back in surprise “Whoa, how long have you just been hauling him around?”

Shrugging, Akira replies, “He was hiding in my desk when I came to school this morning and has been following me around ever since. I put him in my bag when you were arguing with Kamoshida to make sure he wouldn’t be seen.”

“Thank you for the assistance by the way, despite having to sit in this bag, getting around the school as a cat without being seen was a pain. Now I suggest we take this elsewhere, it looks like people are starting to stare!” And with that Morgana pulls his head back into the bag.

Sure enough he was right, several students and some faculty eye the two teens warily from their positions down the hall. Ryuji scoffs and waves for Akira to follow him. “Come on, let’s head back into the courtyard, I’m willing to bet no one’s gonna want to be out there after today.

***

“So we just have to go to that other world and beat the shit outta that asshole right?” Ryuji attempts to clarify, his face a mold of angry determination.

Morgana, who leapt from Akira’s bag the second they were hidden, hisses in exasperation. “No. Once again, we are not beating anyone! We are _stealing_ his distorted desires, if everything goes to plan we won’t ever have to deal with the Shadow Kamoshida at all! Besides it’s not wise to attack a palace ruler, remember how that shadow we faced down in the dungeons, Moloch? A palace ruler is likely to be much stronger than that. If we got into an altercation with the Shadow Kamoshida there’s a very good chance that the three of us would die!” The cat turns to Akira, “Have you made up your minds now about stealing Kamoshida’s distorted desires, even if he suffers a mental shutdown?”

“You’re goddamn right I am.” Ryuji says without hesitation, “With all the shit that asshole’s done, he deserves whatever comes his way, right Akira?” 

With both the cat and the boy looking at her Akira rubs her forearms as she sits on the wooden bench and looks at the ground. She begins to talk slowly, thinking of weight each word carries as she says them. “I agree that the change of heart is necessary. I promised Arsene… to myself, that I wouldn’t stand by and let innocent people get hurt any more if I could help it. If we get expelled Kamoshida will continue to hurt people because he’ll know that he can get away with it. That can’t be allowed to happen even one more time!”

Ryuji nods in approval and Morgana purrs, “Well put Akira, now that we have that matter settled we’ll want to begin our infiltration as soon as possible to ensure that we can do it before you both get expelled.”

Scratching his head, the blonde boy asks, “So, how hard is it? Gettin’ rid of a palace, I mean. You have done this sort of thing before right?”

The cat cocks his head in an innocent confusion, “When did I ever say that?”

The two Shujin students snap their heads towards the cat in alarm. “Eh?” Ryuji squawks “So you were just _pretending_ to know what you were talking about this whole time?”  
“Yeah, you did claim to be an expert on the Metaverse.” Akira says, backing up the blonde boy, “If we are going to do this, you need to be honest with us about what you know. I don’t want us walking into our deaths because we’re confident in incorrect information.”

The cat yowls in annoyance, “I _do_ know what I’m talking about, it’s just that I don’t remem-”

“Is it true that you’re getting expelled?” A voice calls, drowning out Morgana.

The group jumps, surprised at the newcomer. Morgana darts off the table and hides behind Akira’s legs from her spot on the bench. She presses her knees together in an attempt to better hide the cat.

“Ann, I thought you went with Suzui-san in the ambulance?” Akira asks, still surprised to see the blonde girl standing before them. Her hair is disheveled, as if she had been running her hands through it repeatedly. Her eyes are red and bleary, tearstained lines of mascara still clearly visible against her pale skin. 

“I was, but… I couldn’t stay with her after she went into the intensive care center. I stayed until her family arrived, then I left. But you guys _are_ getting expelled right? I mean almost everyone I passed on the way here has been talking about how ‘the delinquents are getting expelled’ so I figured that had to be you two.”

Ryuji nods tersely, “Looks like that asshole’s at it again, what’s it to you?”

Ann shakes her head, “Nothing really.” She turns to Akira with a fire in her eyes “You told me that the two of you were looking into ways of dealing with Kamoshida, I want in.” 

Ryuji whirls to face Akira, “You told her about what we’ve been doing? About, y’know… _that_?” 

Akira notices that Ann cocks her head to look at Ryuji suspiciously and she stands, walking to Ryuji and turns them both away from the other girl. “Hell no I didn’t tell her about the Metaverse! All I did was talk to her about how you and I were looking into ways of proving Kamoshida’s abuses to the public. There’s no way I’d willingly involve another person in that nightmare.” She whispers quickly to the boy.

Ryuji opens his mouth to respond but is cut off by Ann, who has walked up to the two, anger coloring her features. “Don’t just ignore me! Akira, you told me that the two of you were still looking into ‘alternative solutions’ for dealing with Kamoshida, and I want to help.” She crosses her arms as she stands in front of the two.

Ryuji glances at Akira for a moment before looking to Ann, “Look, what we’re doin’ ain’t got anything to do with you, so don’t try buttin’ into our business.” 

Akira cringes at the rough tone he takes with Ann, who barks out a laugh, “Doesn’t involve me? He raped Shiho, Ryuji, you’ve got to be the biggest idiot in Tokyo if you think this doesn’t involve me!”

Ryuji pushes back, this time more aggressively, taking a step towards her, “I said, don’t get in our way!”

Ann looks disgusted with the boy when she turns to Akira, as if begging her for permission. Akira shakes her head ‘no’ gently before looking down at her feet. She can hear the click of Ann’s boots against concrete as she quickly leaves the group’s nook. 

Morgana takes this as his cue to hop back up onto the table that Akira is now gently leaning against, he looks at Ryuji cautiously “That was… really harsh Ryuji.”

The boy sighs and nods, “Yeah I know, I didn’t like sayin’ that shit any more than you liked hearin’ it but what was I supposed to do? We couldn’t just tell her what we’re doin’ with the Metaverse and all that shit right? If we did she’d probably just wanna come along, and after bein’ the team’s dead weight before I got Captain Kidd? I don’t wanna place her in that kind of danger.”

Akira hums in agreement, “It’s true, you said that things would only get harder from here on out right Morgana? If that’s the case then we can’t afford to constantly be watching out for someone so vulnerable. Especially given how we only have about two and a half weeks to find and steal Kamoshida’s distorted desires.” Lifting her head, Akira looks out at the courtyard to find that only a handful of students are out and about, most of them talking quietly in small groups amongst themselves. Some spare quick glances at Akira and Ryuji, but look away from them when they see Akira staring back at them.

Morgana sighs, looking in the direction that Ann went. “Still, I hope she doesn’t do anything crazy. She doesn’t really seem all that stable right now.” He comments.

Snorting, Akira pushes away from the table lazily as she turns to face both of them, “I mean, can you really blame her? Suzui-san’s her best friend, I’m surprised she even came back to school at all today. I thought she would have still been at the hospital.”

“You’re right, but the sooner we deal with this Kamoshida bullshit the sooner all of us, Ann included, can relax right? So let’s get back in that castle, make some progress for today!” Ryuji says, pumping his arm excitedly, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Akira nods and holds her bag open for Morgana, the cats begrudgingly steps into the bag and the three make their way through the halls of the school, students and staff alike nearly scrambling to get out of the way of the two soon-to-be-expelled delinquents. When the group finally gets to the entrance of the alleyway Akira pulls out her phone, but is quickly stopped by Ryuji.

“Hang on a sec, I wanna try doing it this time.” When Akira gives him a somewhat puzzled nod, he fishes out his phone. “Huh, the castle ain’t in my history for some reason. Maybe because the app was added after I got Captain Kidd? Eh, doesn’t matter, so it’s the person, the place, their distortion right? So for this asshole it’s Suguru Kamoshida, he’s a pervert, and he believes the school is his castle right?” The app chirps its confirmation in a pleasant voice and Ryuji cheers, “Alright, got it on the first try!”  
Morgana worms his head out of the bag and snarks, “Yeah, must be so difficult doing it when you have all the answers, can we go already?”

Waving the cat off dismissively Ryuji taps the ‘travel’ button and almost imperceptibly the world shifts before their eyes, cloudy skies turn hues of red and purple, the ambient light of the area flickers as day fades and torchlight springs into existence.

“Huh, it really doesn’t feel like anything changed until you really stop to look at it.” Akira remarks absentmindedly as she walks around the entrance, taking in the scenery. Morgana prances up beside her, now in his more humanoid form.

“I hope you’re both ready, as of right now we are phantom thieves!” He croons, rubbing his paws together in excitement. The students turn to him in confusion,

“Uh, what are phantom thieves?” Ryuji asks.

“We are!” Morgana exclaims triumphantly, looking disappointed when he’s met with blank looks, “Phantom thieves are those who covertly sneak into palaces and stylishly steal treasure!”

Akira pulls a strand of hair behind the edges of her mask, “Treasure? I thought we were here to steal Kamoshida’s distorted desires?”

The cat jumps onto a nearby post to be closer to eye level with them. “Yes, his desires will manifest in the form of whatever object caused his desires to become distorted. Therefore our objective is to steal his treasure, and therefore steal his distorted desires.”

While Ryuji still looks confused, Akira follows along, nodding. The group is so engrossed that they don’t notice the fourth person standing behind them until she screams. Whipping around, the thieves find themselves face to face with Ann Takamaki yet again. 

“W-where are we? Where’d the school go? What the fuck is that thing?” She shouts, pointing a finger at Morgana, who’s taken to staring at her with wide eyes.

“Well that’s rude, he’s just a cat.” Akira murmurs as she steps forward to placate the girl. When Ann cautiously takes a step back Akira stops moving and speaks in as level a voice as she can. “Ann, we’re still at the school, well… sort of, that thing is our friend Morgana. You might’ve noticed a cat when you came and talked with us earlier? That’s him right there.” She points to the cat, who suddenly notices he’s now the center of attention. 

Standing a little taller he looks at her critically, “I see, she must’ve gotten pulled into the metaverse when Ryuji activated the app. You followed us into the alleyway didn’t you?”

Ann gasps, “It talks!?” After a moment she regains some of her composure and answers Morgana’s question. “Yeah, I followed you guys outside and listened in on your conversation. Is this the ‘alternative solution’ you were talking about Akira?”

The masked girl nods, giving a simple “Yep.” In response. 

Ann lights up in realization “So you guys are going to do… something here that’s gonna hurt the real Kamoshida right? I’m here now so you _have_ to let me help! I need to get back at that bastard for what he did to Shiho!”

The thieves share an uneasy look before Ryuji shrugs, walking towards Ann. “Look, we’ll explain what all this is after everything’s over okay?” 

When Ann asks what he means, Ryuji opts not to answer, rather grabbing the blonde by her waist and pitching her over his shoulder. Despite her struggles he manages to carry her back to the alleyway and roughly deposits her near the mouth of it. The group watches as Ann fades out of existence right before their eyes.

“Huh. Didn’t actually think that would work.” Ryuji comments to himself as he walks back to the group.

“Uh, Ryuji are we sure that was the best route to take? She’s probably going to be super pissed with us when we get back.” Akira cautions as the three reconvene.

Ryuji shakes his head “We all agreed havin’ Ann be here would slow us down and she wasn’t gonna leave on her own. You saw how determined she was, anyway she can be angry if she wants to. I mean it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?”

Akira nods slightly “I know, it just felt like a dick move you know?” She checks her pockets and takes stock of the things she has with her as Morgana nods approvingly.

“Ryuji’s right for once, as extravagant as her beauty was, our mission is more important! We’ve also learned a valuable lesson now, you two have to be more careful about using that app, so that we don’t pull more people into the Metaverse with us. We’re lucky that Ryuji managed to get her out of here so quickly. Now without any further ado, let’s begin our infiltration Joker!” The cat ends in a cheer.

“Uh, is that some kind of nickname?” Ryuji asks as the group slowly walk closer to their side entrance into the castle. 

Morgana stops them and shakes his comically large head vigorously, “Don’t make it sound so lame! It’s a code name, we shouldn’t be using our real names in a palace. Given that a palace is basically the subconscious mind of the owner of said palace, who knows what kind of effect using our real names might have in the real world? It’s best that we don’t find out, agreed?”

“But why am I Joker though?” Akira asks quietly, not wanting to draw any attention from guards.

“You’re our trump card of course!” Morgana answers like it makes complete sense, “You’re obviously the strongest Persona user among us, therefore you’re like the joker in a deck of cards.”

 _Oh. That’s definitely not putting any serious expectations on me, no sir, none at all._ She blushes and stammers, “Oh come on, I’m really not all _that_ powerful.”

This earns a snort from Ryuji, who offers “Are you kidding? You totally kicked that Malarkey shadow’s ass when we were in the dungeon! You were all like-” He then proceeds to mimic firing a pistol at an imaginary target while Morgana sighs exasperatedly.

“I’m glad you agree with me, but it was _Moloch_ , not malarkey! Get it right! Anyways, I’d say that Joker makes a stellar codename for you. Now for you Ryuji…” The cat pauses for a moment and squints at the boy. “Thug. That fits doesn’t it?”

It doesn’t, and Ryuji makes that immediately apparent. “What the hell kinda name is ‘Thug’? It makes me sound like some extra character in some crappy movie! I’m choosin’ my own damn codename!” He stops and runs his fingers gently over his mask. “It’s gotta be named after the mask right? I mean it’s just the coolest thing ever right?”

Morgana sighs, obviously disappointed that ‘thug’ was vetoed so readily, “Fine, so you wanna be called Skull correct?”

This suggestion goes over much better and Ryuji smirks, “ _Skull_ , hell yeah now that sounds badass right?” 

Akira gives him a thumbs up before turning to Morgana “And what about you? Unless you’ve been using Morgana as a code name this whole time?” 

The cat shakes his head, “Nope, Morgana’s my name. How about you choose a code name for me?”

Biting the inside of her lip, Akira tries to think of a clever name for the cat but comes up blank, thankfully Ryuji comes to her rescue, “How ‘bout we call you Mona? It’s like a short version of Morgana, but no one would really know that it was. That works doesn’t it?”

“That’s true, it would make communication much easier… that settles it! Akira is Joker, Ryuji is Skull, and I shall be Mona! You'd better remember to use these codenames whenever we’re in the palace, got it?”

Both students nod and resume walking to the vent they’ve been using as an entrance. Morgana enters first, bounding onto a nearby crate and launching himself gracefully into the opening, not making a sound as he does it. Ryuji goes next, opting to simply haul himself into the opening quickly. 

Akira lingers nervously outside for a moment and looks back to where they’d ditched Ann. _This is something we have to do._ She tells herself, _If we don’t do this, Ryuji and I are screwed, and Kamoshida will get away with what he did to Suzui-san. Remember, you’re doing this to help people._ She tells herself as she climbs onto the crate Morgana jumped on before sliding into the vent, venturing once more into Kamoshida’s castle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I never realized just how packed full of events the first Friday of the game is until I started to write it, holy crap. I hope to have the next chapter out some time in the next two-ish weeks. I'd also like to address Makoto's behavior in the story so far. Yes she is judgmental towards Akira at the moment, she grew up in a heavily police and law oriented family, and she hasn't learned enough about Akira to see past that label of 'criminal'. Not to mention she has an extremely narrow view of the world, she just doesn't recognize that yet. Never fear though, much like Akira, she'll grow and change to become the Queen that we all know and love. I'm going to go pass out for a few hours now, hope you enjoy the chapter and that you have a good week!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead and neither is this story! How's that for a Halloween scare? In all seriousness I didn't mean to let it be this long for an update but life got in the way, going forward it'd be best to expect an update once every four or five weeks.

“We need to find another way around, there’s just too many shadows for us to take on all at once!”

Joker wants to whisper ‘You don’t say?’ to Mona, but she remains quiet, staring in fear at the legion of guards filling the palace’s main hall to the brim. They all stand at attention as the Shadow Kamoshida speaks. His voice booms out to the crowd.

“That trash that was trespassing the other day was entertaining wasn’t it?” A roar of cheers answers in affirmation and he nods excitedly “It was fun to beat lowly scum down like that, right? However we must tighten security, we can’t allow for any more rats like them to scurry around and ruin the prestige of my glorious castle! I know that all of you here are loyal to me, and so in my infinite generosity I offer you a chance to prove that devotion! Whoever brings me the heads of those rats shall receive a reward beyond your wildest dreams!” He shouts down at them.

The guards cheer, louder now, and as Kamoshida waves his hand to dismiss them they all call out in perfect unison. “All hail King Kamoshida!” 

The newly made phantom thieves quickly close the door that they had cracked open and nervously move away from the calamitous commotion in the hall. “I guess they really didn’t like me tearin’ up the place huh?” Skull whispers, a satisfied smile peeking out from underneath his mask.

“You’d guess right, _unfortunately_ this means we’ll have a much harder time exploring the palace now that his guards are all on high alert. This is why we should avoid any interactions we can with the ruler of a palace!” Mona hisses as they creep away, “Come on, this way, there’s another path through the armory that leads deeper into the castle. I found it when I was exploring on my own.”

The two students follow the somewhat anthropomorphic cat as he leads them back, to the door directly across from the room in which they had entered the castle. Skull pulls the door open, and directly in their faces is the hollowed stone mask of a guard. It stares at them blankly, shifting on its feet in place.

Joker lets out a strangled cry of “Fuck, get it!” Before leaping at it, clawing at the guard’s mask, desperately reaching for purchase. With both hands clasped tightly along the edges, she plants her feet onto its breastplate, only dimly aware of the commotion Skull and Mona are causing on either side of her. Straining her back and pushing with her knees, the mask yanks free and the guard’s armor begins to rattle violently. Joker soars back, the stone mask in her grasp already fading away as she lands on the hard marble tile with a thud.

Shooting to her feet, Joker’s just in time to watch the armor fall apart, revealing a single shadow in its place, a small fairy, fluttering around on dragonfly wings. _Oh thank god it’s only one, this won’t be a difficult fight._ She thinks, relieved.

In fact there’s not even a fight at all, Skull cocks his newly acquired shotgun and fires a single round at the fairy, a deafening boom filling the room as the air fills with buckshot. The shadow crumples to the ground instantly and the thieves rush the fallen enemy, it throws its hands up in surrender and Joker levels her pistol at it wearily.

“Wait!” The fairy cries from its hunched position on the ground, “You’re the intruders King Kamoshida was talking about aren’t you? Please don’t hurt me!”

Joker’s pistol slackens in her grip as a cold sweat takes over, taking down the shadows previously was easy, almost routine after a time. All they did before was screech and attack, Joker saw them as more akin to robots than people. With the small creature before her now begging for its life? Innocent or not she’d be ending the life of an intelligent creature, the thought of putting a bullet in it was becoming much more sickening to consider.

Mona, noticing her hesitation moves to stand beside her. Unlike Joker however, he keeps his slingshot trained on the downed foe. “Shadow’s aren’t people Akira, they’re just reflections of humanity's dark desires, what happens to them doesn’t matter.” He explains tersely, eyes shifting around the small room they’re in, checking to ensure no one heard the chaos from before.

“But… this one can talk, the other little shadows didn’t beg like this so maybe this one is different, would it really be so bad if we just let it go?” Joker pleads with the cat, careful not to take her eyes off the fairy.

Mona’s silent for a moment before his massive head perks up, “There is a way! You know that Shadows are born from people’s hearts right? Well that’s why they can talk, feel, and do all the stuff that you and I can. Well just like us they don’t want to die, and we can use that to our advantage!” The not-cat explains excitedly.

This time Joker does turn away from the shadow to face Mona, her pistol now hanging limply by her side. “What do you mean we can use the fact that they don’t want to die to our advantage?” She asks, more than a little concerned about Mona’s idea.

“Well, if we can corner them like this we might be able to barter with them, you know, a ‘hand over what you’ve and we’ll let you go’ sort of deal! That way we can get stuff from them like money or other stuff that could help our infiltration like medicine and stuff.” He explains.

“So instead of killing them, we’ll just be mugging them.” Joker finishes uneasily. _This feels wrong, like it’s just the lesser of two evils but… we do need more supplies if we want to get through this. All we have are two more of Mona’s pellets for healing, not counting Mona himself._ Straightening her back in an effort to appear confident she grips her pistol tightly and strides closer to the shadow.

It looks up at her with wide eyes, “You’re a kind person aren’t you? You wouldn’t hurt a poor defenseless shadow would you?” 

“Shut up!” Joker barks, hoping to hide the quivering of her voice. The shadow reels back in fear and Joker takes this as a good sign. “Here’s how this is going to work, if you want to live, you’re going to have to give me something useful. Do you understand?”

The shadow looks sheepishly at the ground, “This all happened so fast… I don’t actually have anything on me, so…” The shadow gives the group what Joker assumes is its best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

Mona shakes his head in confusion, “What? This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen! Shadows usually carry stuff on them, it’s something that they inherit from human hearts!” Mona shakes his furry head in aggravation. “Well, if you don’t have anything then I guess it’s time to go to hell!” And he readies his slingshot to deal the killing blow.’

“Wait!” The shadow cries, her hands outstretched in an urgent attempt to save her own skin. “Can’t we- can’t we work something out? I promise I won’t tell anyone if you let me go!”

“... Fine.” Joker allows, not wanting to be cruel to the small shadow.

It claps in delight as it shoots up from its position on the ground, glassy wings fluttering quickly behind it. It shoots forward and cups Joker’s face with its hands, examining her face with a look of curiosity. “So you’re the type of person who just can’t say no huh? I know the feeling! Hm…” It trails off, eyes wandering around to look at the other two thieves, who are observing the interaction with alarm.

The shadow’s look of curiosity shifts to one of nausea for a brief moment before it appears to have a moment of clarity, it zips away from Joker and hovers in front of the group. “I remember now, I’m not just King Kamoshida’s… I am an existence adrift in humanity’s Sea of Souls. My name is Pixie! For helping me remember, I’ll live inside your heart!”

“Whoa what’s going on?” Joker can hear Mona cry as the newly dubbed Pixie makes a beeline for her. 

Time seems to slow down and just before the shadow hits Joker a bright blue light flashes and she can feel something shifting _within_ her. She falls to one knee, clutching her chest as she feels Arsene’s righteous anger fade into the back of her soul and for a different will to fill its space. It feels lighter, more mischievous and playful than malevolent and Joker shakily gets to her feet, staring at the space where Pixie had once been hovering.

Skull is scratching his head in confusion while Mona stares at Joker in open awe. “What just… What just happened?”

Joker shakes her head, “I have no idea, she was here one second and then...poof! I take it you don’t have any idea what’s going on either Mona?”

The cat shakes his head, “No, I’ve _never_ seen a shadow do that. I’ve never even gotten one to talk to me like that before, they’ve always just been trying to murder me the whole time.” He squints his eyes in contemplation before shrugging. “Well, maybe it was a fluke. Let’s try that again if we can, but until we know what it does I don’t think we should worry about it. Luckily the guards in the main hall didn’t hear that so let’s get moving, the armory is through- damnit!” Mona jumps back as a new guard comes through the door the cat was just about to open.

Before Joker can attempt to rip its mask off, the armor shakes itself apart and in its place two demonic horses stand in their path, just like the shadows that attacked the group when Skull awoke to Captain Kidd. Pulling her mask off, the leader of the thieves is shocked to find that Pixie has appeared in front of her, swirling almost lazily above her head. “Eiha!” Joker calls, but nothing happens, there’s no rush of power like before, no images of curses and things better left unsaid in her mind. Instead she finds that when she looks within herself she finds flashes of tempests and great storms. 

Just like with Arsene, the word comes without provocation, like it had always been there waiting for Joker to uncover it. “Zio!” She cries again, but this time the smell of ozone wafts through the small room and a bolt of lightning rains from the sky, crippling the first horse. Joker quickly turns and unleashes another charged assault on the second shadow, which follows the first one to the ground.

As the two shadows struggle, Skull and Mona take up positions at either side of Akira. “So you somehow managed to turn a _shadow_ into a persona!?” Mona exclaims in amazement, unable to hide his complete and utter shock at this new development. 

“Hey, maybe she could try gettin’ one of these guys on our side?” Skull suggests from her left, shotgun pointed loosely at the fallen shadows.

 _He’s right, I should test this power to see if I actually can use it again, make sure it’s not a fluke._ Approaching one of the horses slowly, she sinks down until she’s crouched in front of it, grey eyes meeting pure red. 

The horse bares its teeth in warning and Joker’s blood chills as she notices that its teeth aren’t the big blocky teeth she’s seen in pictures and videos, but razor sharp fangs, lined in neat rows all the way back. She gulps and stammers “H-hey there horsey?” She tries, hoping to keep the quiver out of her voice. 

“C’mon now girly, is that any way to treat an old man? Help me outta this mess.” This shadow’s voice is low and scratchy, and Joker finds that the movement of its mouth is mesmerising in the most terrifying way.

She closes her eyes for a moment and sighs, steeling herself. “No, I want you to lend me your power.” 

The horse’s eyes widen slightly before neighing “So that’s what ye want aye? Well, ‘fore I go given’ my powers to any young filly I wanna have a chat with ye.”

It’s Joker’s turn to be surprised now, _A chat? What could a shadow even want to chat about?_ She thinks, while she nods her assent to the shadow’s request.

“What’s kinda husband d’ya think’d be best, fillie?” The shadow follows up quickly, catching Joker by surprise.

“Uh, what?” She asks dumbly, dumbfounded by the odd question. When the shadow continues to stare at her she scrambles to form some kind of response, “What kind of husband would I want?” She laughs nervously and scratches the back of her head, unsure of how to respond. _That’s definitely not something I’ve ever given much thought, I never really planned beyond ‘graduate and help mom and dad run the restaurant’. Not to mention I…_ She shakes her head loose from her thoughts.

“I suppose I’d want a husband who’s smart, it’d be nice to have someone who’s engaging to talk to.” She mumbles out, blushing at the looks the other two thieves give her.

The shadow shakes its large head, face morphing to an expression of disapproval. “Ya got it all wrong filly, husbands are supposed t’be kind-hearted and devoted, lovin’ and all that. Now why d’ya suppose those’re the best ones?” The shadow asks next, standing onto its feet, now looking down at Joker. It starts to twitch and shake in odd ways. Joker instinctively takes a step back.

“Why are they the best? Uh, that-that’s because kind and devoted husbands will care for their wives?” She guesses, not quite sure what the shadow is getting at.

Whatever it wanted, apparently Joker guessed wrong because suddenly its head whips violently from side to side and its steady grunts turn to mangled roars. “No! No! Wrong! That’s the wrong answer little filly!” It lowers its head and charges at Joker, but before it can reach her it's quickly dispatched by a blast from Skull’s shotgun. Ripping her mask off once again, Joker puts the other shadow down with another bolt of thunder magic and when silence settles over the room again, the phantom thieves reconvene.

“So you have the power to absorb and use _other_ personas!” Morgana croons, leaping into the air excitedly. “I knew it was the right call to give you the name Joker, you truly are our trump card! We’re going to have such a massive advantage going forward.” He purrs, extremely satisfied with himself.

“Wait hold up, if Joker can use other personas can we do it? And why didn’t that freaky unicorn lookin’ thing become a persona as well? Or did it, and I just missed it?” Skull asks.

He’s met with a small shrug from Mona, “I don’t know.” Is all he says, only elaborating once Skull shoots him an even more incredulous look. “I’ve never heard of someone being able to wield multiple personas at once, and I’ve certainly never tried to do it myself. Now if we don’t have any more interruptions, third time’s the charm!” He finishes, strolling towards the now open door that the guard just came through. Joker and Skull share a confused look before she shrugs and jogs to catch up with their feline companion, Skull close on her heels. 

The group walks slowly through the halls, careful not to alert any more guards. Thankfully none seem to be patrolling and Joker takes the time to look around, spinning on her heels as they walk to view this new area of the castle. She presses her face against the bars of a gate that blocks off a long hall with rows of armor on either side. “Mona, what’s in there? If it’s got a gate blocking it, it’s got to be important right?” She asks, looking down at the cat.

“That’s an excellent intuition you have, but I can’t say what’s in there. It’s been like this every other time I’ve been by here.” He says before ushering her back along the hall to a closed set of double doors. “This is the armory, there’ll almost definitely be patrols in here so be careful! We don’t want to end up making so much noise that Kamoshida notices us again.”

With an affirmative nod from Skull, Joker places a hand on one of the doors and gently pushes it open ever so slightly. Peeking through the crack in the doors she sees rows upon rows of spears, swords, and shields stacked neatly on racks. She spots two guards slowly patrolling the lengths of the armory, and it almost sounds like she can hear a third, rustling far off to her left. Pulling the door shut, she relays the information to her fellow thieves.

Skull spits on the carpet, pacing back and forth anxiously “How’re we supposed to take three of ‘em at once? We still have trouble takin’ one of ‘em!” He frets.

“We don’t have to worry about that, the guards are pretty stupid when they’re in this form. So long as we stay out of their line of sight we’ll be safe to attack, as long as we’re quick.” Mona reassures him.

It helps, as a grin returns, “So you’re just sayin’ that we gotta smash ‘em down quick huh? Sounds like fun to me! What’s our move then Joker?” Skull asks, tapping his makeshift club against his palm in anticipation.

“I say when we go in, we take the one closest to us first, then the one across from that guard. Then we’ll see if I was right about that third guard. Ready?” When the other two thieves nod their heads, she opens the door a hair again before shooting out, sprinting nearly full tilt at the closest guard. 

It’s nearly about to turn and investigate the noise behind it when Joker jumps on it, scrambling over its broad shoulders and ripping off the thick stone mask. Landing on her feet she quickly removes her mask and Pixie floats into existence in front of her.

From the shadow, two more of the demonic horses appear and Joker shudders as she and Skull blast them with lightning before quickly dispatching them. The other guards follow in a similar fashion and soon enough the room is empty. Glancing around the room she finds an exit on the opposite side of the room. Before that however, the group notices that one of the guards was watching over a treasure chest. Upon opening it Joker finds the only thing inside of it is a razor sharp knife, glinting silver in the torchlight. Almost on instinct she starts to twirl the blade in her fingers. The weight and balance feeling as natural as her current knife. She pulls out the other blade and stares at the two for a moment.

Mona taps her on the knee and she looks down at him, “If you’re comparing the two, you should know that looks are everything here, the silver one looks sharper, which translates to the blade actually _being_ sharper in the Metaverse.” 

Biting the inside of her lip she nods wordlessly and stores both knives in her coat before continuing on, starting to feel the exhaustion from having fought so many shadows so quickly. Thankfully she’s saved when Skull points to the end of the hall. 

“Hey that door’s lookin’ kinda funny, that means it’s one of those safe rooms right? Mind if we take a bit of a break because I don’t know about you guys but I’m startin’ to get a little tired.” He asks, massaging his knee slightly as they walk.

“I agree with Skull, we can also use that time to talk about your new power Joker, I also think it'd be good if we took a moment to review what progress we’ve made so far.” Mona adds, both Skull and the cat turning to Joker expectantly.

“Uh, yeah sounds good… I could use a quick breather myself.” She adds, not yet comfortable with her position as leader of the thieves. They quickly file inside the nearly translucent room and Joker finds herself watching the area shift between what looks like a large storage closet and an all too familiar classroom.

“Whoa, this’s Kawakami-sensei’s class ain’t it?” Skull asks in surprise and Joker nods, taking a seat at the large wooden table, the one object that doesn’t seem to be shifting between the Metaverse and reality.

“Safe rooms are created if a palace’s ruler doesn’t have a strong cognition of a place. Kamoshida must not visit the actual classrooms too often if this is happening.” Mona explains as he leaps on top of the table, turning to face the exit. “Now, I can’t say for sure how far we are just yet, but it doesn’t feel like we’re anywhere close to the treasure right now.” He explains and the group gets comfortable while they rest.

***

It’s by complete accident that Joker figures out she still has Arsene within her, but in the process learns that by focusing her thoughts on a specific persona she can switch between them at will and soon enough the ever so softly simmering rage of Arsene’s fury retakes its place in her heart. It’s an oddly comforting feeling for her, like a beloved blanket being draped over her. 

Mona excuses himself from the table as they ready themselves to go back out into the palace, opting to scout out the area ahead of them quickly as the two human thieves wait.

“So… how long do you think it’ll take to get to Kamoshida’s treasure thing? I know Morgana said we got a ways to go, and we don’t have a whole lot of time to get this done y’know?” He asks and Joker can tell he’s somewhat anxious, gently shifting from foot to foot.

“You mean Mona right?” She gently chastises, and when he gives a sheepish apology she smiles, “I don’t have any idea how long it’ll take but we’ll get through it. We have to.” She says, hoping that her nerves don’t show under her mask of faux confidence. Thankfully it seems to work and Skull settles down.

The comfortable silence that the two develop is shattered as Mona bursts through the safe room doors, sending them flying open and nearly slamming into Joker and Skull in the process. The cat skitters to a stop near the table and leans on one of the wooden legs for support as he pants out “Lady… Lady Ann! She got back inside the palace somehow and Kamoshida’s shadows got a hold of her. Come on, we have to save her, quickly!” Before taking a deep breath and attempting to sprint out the door again. Before Mona can do so however, Joker snatches him by his bandana and holds him in the air.

“Hold on, Ann got taken by Kamoshida? How many guards were with her, was Kamoshida there too?” She asks urgently.

Mona shakes his furry head as much as he can “I don’t know, I heard her being dragged away but I didn’t get a look at who was with her. That doesn’t matter though, I _have_ to save Lady Ann!” He yowls, attempting to wrench free from his leader’s grip. 

In retaliation she adds another hand, further restricting his movement, “I agree that we can’t leave Ann to that bastard, but we have to be careful, if we end up dead then there’ll be no one left who can stop Kamoshida _or_ save Ann! We’re going to help her, but we can’t rush into things like we did last time. You yourself told us that dealing with Kamoshida directly would end badly!” She exclaims, “Now can I trust you to be careful?”

The cat nods quickly and stops struggling. Joker gently sets him down and the group quickly sets off in the direction they came. Mona leads them to the hallway that was locked previously, and Joker spots a suit of armor that had been knocked from its pedestal. “This is definitely the place.” She whispers, mostly to herself as the group approaches the door at the end of the hall. 

Upon finding it locked Mona quickly leaps onto the handle and pulls two long, thin pieces of metal out of his pouch and inserts them into the lock. As he fiddles with the door Joker presses her ear against it. The voices are muffled, but she can make out one high pitched voice and one low one, along with deep rumblings from other sources. A click reverberates through the door and Mona leaps off of the handle, giving her a nod signalling that the door is unlocked. 

Taking a breath, shuddering with anticipation she turns to the two, “Okay, Ann’s in the room just ahead but so is Kamoshida, and likely some of his guards. Obviously our first priority is to get Ann out safely so I suggest we go in quietly and use the element of surprise to ambush Kamoshida’s goons and get Ann out as fast as possible. Anyone have any other ideas?”

Skull shakes his head, “Nah, simpler the plan, the better, right Mona?” He asks, turning to the cat expectantly. 

Mona is gripping and readjusting his grip on his curved sword as he shakes his head. “Not necessarily Skull, but we don’t have time for finesse right now. I say it’s a good plan as well, now let’s go save Lady Ann!” He whispers.

Crouching low, Joker pushes the door open just enough for the doors to slip through before quietly closing it behind her. Turning to survey the room she nearly screams as she sees a girl staring right at her. The other two react similarly and for a moment no one moves. As the girl on the floor continues not to move Joker crawls towards her.

The girl doesn’t flinch as she does so, the girl on the floor doesn’t do anything and as Joker waves her hand in the girl’s face, the movement doesn’t even register, she simply sways in an invisible breeze, gaze fixed dreamily on nothing. Cautiously Joker looks past her and deeper into the hall itself. It’s a dark place, with candles strewn about to give it a warm glow. In the flickering light Joker can see several girls like the one she’s next to, all acting similarly. At the end of the hall is a concentration of candles, illuminating the scene that Joker sees. 

Ann is strapped to an ‘X’ patterned board, her arms and legs locked in place as three guards stare her down in silence. The Shadow Kamoshida stands tall in front of her, hands on his hips as he laughs at his ‘fortune’. Beside him is the Cognitive Ann, hanging off his arm and giving ditzy giggles at everything he says.

Waving the other two thieves up to her position she whispers “We can’t do anything with them standing in front of her like that. Once we get close enough, we’ll rush them and try to drive them through there,” Joker points to a side door next to one of Kamoshida’s guards “and then we’ll grab Ann and make a run for it.” She finishes, feeling underwhelmed by her lack of a concrete plan. Her confidence is bolstered somewhat by Skull clapping a hand lightly on her shoulder before stalking forward, Mona and Joker close behind.

As they reach the group of Shadows the conversation becomes clearer. “-some red light district? Are you running some kind of prostitution ring?” Ann asks desperately. 

Another laugh erupts from Kamoshida, who throws his head back in amusement. “Prostitution? Do you really think I’d let anyone lay their hands on _my_ women? No, peasants don’t get to lay their grubby little hands on my property, so don’t you worry sweetheart, I’m not sharing you with _anyone_.” 

Ann struggles harder as the group approaches, and in the corner of her eye Joker can see Skull readying his pipe with lethal intent. Nodding at him, Joker is surprised when he doesn’t go to rip the mask off of the guard, simply content to slam his improvised club into its armored helm. Even more surprising is that the guard doesn’t dissolve into a demon like the others, and simply bursting into ether, dead before it even had a chance to fight back. Joker and Mona quickly dispatch another guard and soon the trio of thieves stand before Kamoshida, the Shadow Ann, and one of his golden bodyguards.

“I’ve had enough of you dirty little rats!” The king grinds out and raises a hand, several guards appear, both around him and the actual Ann all at once. The guards next to the girl immediately draw their swords, holding the blades tight against her throat. Joker can see the blonde girl straining to pull away from the razor sharp edges in discomfort and she desperately looks around for any way to turn the situation in their favor.

“If any of you so much as move, I’ll have her gutted on the spot. It’ll be a shame to lose a doll as cute as her, but she’s nothing that can’t be replaced, isn’t that right?” He asks the Cognitive Ann, who giggles coquettishly and nods as she nuzzles closer into him. The group stops dead in their tracks and Joker tries her best to hide the rapidly growing panic she feels as Kamoshida starts towards them. His guards proceed him of course and the trio quickly backpedals away from Ann as he stops in front of her. “Damn shame really, her little friend,what was it? Sara, no wasn’t it Sakura? Eh, doesn’t matter she was just such a fine piece of ass.” He bemoans mockingly.

Ann stops struggling in her bonds as he says it, despair and fear curdling to shock. “You- you don’t even remember her _name_?” She manages, stunned. 

Kamoshida shrugs “I have so many dolls, I don’t have to remember all of their names. Of course, you do know that it’s your fault though, right? If you had just done like I’d told you , she wouldn’t have had to take your place like that.” 

The struggling stops as Ann slumps in her bonds and Joker can see several ruby droplets running down the sword of one of the guards. “You’re right… of course you are, Shiho wouldn’t have been involved if I just had-had…” She trails off as the words seem to catch in her throat.

“It’s not your fault!” Joker cries, “You’re not his property, neither is Shiho…He’s just a pig who’s drunk off his own power!” The guards move more aggressively towards them as Kamoshida waves a dismissively agitated hand at them.

Ann’s body freezes in her restraints, every muscle tensing as she raises her head to glower at the king who has taken to staring down her shirt. “...You’re right. Of course it’s not my fault, it’s not Shiho’s either. I let this piece of shit get inside my head and twist everything around. I’ve had enough of _you_ , Kamoshida!” Almost as soon as she says it, Ann is gripped by a series of spasms, thrashing about in her confinement with beads of sweat rapidly forming and running down her cheeks.

“Another one!?” Morgana whispers in awe as a lacquered mask of a cat, brilliant crimson in color, flashes on Ann’s face. Immediately after it appears Ann wrenches herself free from her bindings and leaps forward before ripping it off. 

In a brilliant blue blaze Ann’s Persona appeared behind her, it was the visage of a tall woman, with a mask similar in shape to Ann’s but it was black with pink markings along the forehead. Glowing yellow and feline eyes bored into the Shadow Kamoshida with a subtle ferocity. It wore a frilly red and black dress that held a thorny belt of roses around its waist and smoked a fat cigar in its mouth. However the most noticeable aspect of Ann’s Persona was the two heart faced men that it controlled, leashed by thorny vines. One floated in the air, tethered around the Persona’s arm, and the other firmly under its heel.

Joker turns her attention to Ann and her jaw nearly hits the floor when she sees what the blonde’s school attire is replaced by. A full bodied latex suit, skintight and leaving nearly nothing to the imagination. Zippers line the outfit, two going all the way down into thigh high latex boots and the middle zipper left open to reveal Ann’s cleavage. A whip hangs from a hook near her back. Joker gapes at the audaciously revealing outfit and out of the corner of her eyes she can see the boys doing the same. 

Ann doesn’t regard them for a second though, charging at the guard closest to her and kicking the sword out of his hand before delivering a roundhouse straight to its chest, sending flat onto its back like a beetle that’s been flipped. She catches the falling sword and cleaves the Cognitive Ann in half, the fake quickly dissolving into nothing. She drops the sword at Kamoshida’s feet. “You ripped everything from me… from Shiho, you destroyed her. Now it’s your turn to pay.” She snarls, challenging the perverted king.

Kamoshida regards it with equal parts frustration and panic. “How many of you brats am I gonna have to put up with!?” Before quickly turning and leaving the chamber, all but a gold plated knight following after him. 

“How dare you reject King Kamoshida’s love, you’ll pay for this insolence with your life you selfish wench!” The knight extols, armor already rattling in anger.

Ann snorts and Joker thinks she can almost feel the girl rolling her eyes, “Don’t feed me that ‘love’ bullshit. We’re nothing more than holes to fuck according to that dirtbag!” She rips off the red mask and her Persona surges to life behind her, “Come on Carmen, let’s punish this asshole!”

The guard responds in kind, shedding its armor and emerging as a horned demon sitting on a toilet, glaring at the four. Ann glares back and behind her, Carmen lazily flicks the man on the leash towards the demon and a fireball roars from its mouth, hitting the demon square in its face. It tumbles over stunned and Ann looks on in surprise when Mona and Skull quickly jump forward, weapons drawn and ready as they begin to attack it. Joker hangs back to keep them covered, pistol out and at the ready, she glances at Ann to make sure she’s okay, trying her best not to look at the all-too-tight bodysuit she’s wearing. As the boys retreat to fall back in line with Ann and Joker she fires off several shots to cover them. The demon falls quickly afterwards, Ann and Carmen’s fire helping greatly to keep the demon pinned down as the others press their assault.

Almost as quickly as the demon falls, so does Ann with her persona disappearing and slumping to her knees. The exhaustion of having awakened and using her Persona so much clearly taking its toll on her. Skull and Joker catch her, hauling her gently back to her feet and holding her as she gains her bearings. 

“We can’t stay here, Kamoshida’s probably gonna be back soon, with more guards no doubt. What’s the call, Joker?” Skull asks, throwing a level gaze at the leader of the thieves.

She sits for a moment before shifting Ann into a more comfortable position on her shoulder. “Let’s go back to that safe room we found for now, let Ann catch her breath. I feel like if we try and rush out, Kamoshida will have forces waiting near the hall to catch us leaving. Once Ann’s good enough to move again, we’ll go.”

Mona jumps on Joker’s unoccupied shoulder and purrs “A meowvelous plan if I do say, Lady Ann is the most important thing here!” Joker and Skull share a look over Ann’s head as the group begins to move with Ann gingerly hobbling between the two thieves.

Leaping off her shoulder, Mona goes ahead to scout the hallways to the safe room and Ann slowly lifts her head to watch him leave. “Lady Ann?” She mutters hazily.

Skull brushes it off, “Don’t listen to it, Mona’s just bein’ weird.” Ann nods tiredly and the group continues in silence the rest of the way to the safe room. Upon reaching it they find Mona waiting, the door already propped open by his small form. He widens the opening to fit the three in then swiftly closes it behind him. Once they prop Ann into a seat Joker and Skull take their own and eye her warily as she puts her head on the table.

Fishing into her coat pocket Joker rolls the last of Mona’s wrapped healing pellets in her hand contemplatively before rolling it across the table to Ann, who lifts her head to stare at the offending object questioningly.

“It’ll help you get your strength back a little faster, don’t worry it’s safe.” Joker assures her as Mona leaps onto the table, settling at its head. Ann palms the pill and chews, shuddering slightly at the taste before swallowing, looking suspiciously at the trio of thieves.

“She’s right Lady Ann, they’re purrfectly safe, I even made them myself!” He puffs his chest out with pride and Skull rolls his eyes from where he sits, chin resting on both of his fists. Mona pointedly ignores him and addresses Joker instead, “Good call having us rest up, I can feel shadows moving around a lot more right now, if we tried to make a break for the exit who knows how that would’ve went. There is something I want to address however, It’s apparent now what Kamoshida’s distortion is, it’s lust.” 

As he says this Joker resists the urge to comment on how overtly obvious that was by this point and she lets Mona continue. “As we don’t yet have a codename for this place I recommend that we call it the Castle of Lust. If we refer to it as Shujin Academy too often here I fear that may only strengthen his cognition that the school _is_ his castle.” His direct look implying that he wants her approval as leader.

She looks at Skull to gauge his opinion on the new title, he simply shrugs, yawning “Hey, if the shoe fits…” letting the rest of the phrase hang in silence. 

Nodding she agrees “It’s a little on the nose, but if it helps stop Kamoshida from getting stronger then this is now The Castle of Lust.” 

A small bleep comes from her coat and Joker pulls her phone from her pocket, noticing that Skull and Ann are doing the same.

“Huh, that app thing just changed the name of this place to the Castle of Lust. Neat.” Skull remarks before tucking his phone back into his pants.

Ann on the other hand is still staring at her phone, looking better than before but now extremely confused, “So, just what the hell was… _all of that_ ? I know you guys were looking to take down Kamoshida, and I still want to help but what happened back there… and more importantly, _what the fuck am I wearing_ ?”

Joker gives a sheepish smile and rubs the back of her neck timidly. “That’s… kind of a long story, Mona do you want to tell her about all of the basic stuff before we begin?” 

The cat perks up considerably and moves to settle himself in front of Ann, rubbing his palms together like an old storyteller. “Okay Lady Ann, we’re currently in this place called the Metaverse…”

***

It took awhile for the entire story to be told, despite only having taken place within the past few days. Mona and Joker often swapped their roles as narrator, with Skull interjecting, sometimes helpfully, sometimes not. As the tale ended Ann stood from the table and massaged her temples with both hands. “So, just making sure I get this right, by stealing the ‘treasure’ of this Shadow Kamoshida guy, who is but also _isn’t_ the real Kamoshida, he’ll confess to committing all of his crimes… all of them?” her tone turns hard at the end, steel flashing in her still tired eyes.

Joker nods, grimacing “Yes, or he’ll die. None of us have done this before so I can’t exactly say what our odds are.” 

This does little to assuage Ann who levels her with a fiery stare, “I want in, and you can’t just say no this time, Carmen’s just as powerful as your guys’ Personas!” She follows up quickly, pointing a finger at Joker, as if accusing her of thinking about it.

Skull is the first to speak up, “Wait, you wanna help? Like you wanna come with us?”

Ann looks at the boy like he’s just grown a second head. “What kind of question is that? That asshole ruined my life, destroyed Shiho’s and has done the same to god knows how many others. In what world could I just sit back and let some sicko do that?” She huffs angrily, fist balled by her sides.

Skull looks cautiously to Joker, a question in his eyes and she can feel Mona doing the same. _Right, leader…_ she reminds herself as she looks to Ann, who is staring at her now more expectantly than the other two combined. “I think it’d be great to have you along Ann, but just so you’re aware it’s not going to be easy. We’ve had to do a lot of fighting like we just did to even make it this far into the castle and there’s a very good chance we’ll have to fight more to see this through. Are you prepared to handle that?” 

Ann nods tersely “This if for Shiho, I don’t care what it takes I’m going to see this through to the end.” She vows quietly, her determination clearly unwavering.

Mona is quick to back her up, “This is great! With a fourth member we can be more effective on the field than we were before! And don’t worry about being in danger Lady Ann, I’ll protect you!” 

The group gives Mona a dubious look before Ann turns back to Skull, “Good, and besides Ryuji, if you guys said no I’d have just gone in on my own.”

Skull shushes her quickly “Hey! Don’t call me that here, it’s dangerous. Remember what we said? I’m Skull, that’s Joker, and the cat is Mona. While we’re here we gotta use the codenames!” 

Ann brushes a strand of hair over her shoulder, “Shouldn’t I get a nickname then seeing as I _will_ be coming back in with you guys, right?” She asks pointedly, and Joker can see that she’s still not quite convinced that the other three will follow through on their deal.

Moving around the table and gingerly putting a hand on Ann’s shoulder, Joker looks her in the eyes and nods “Absolutely, we’ll think of a codename for you the next time we come back to the palace but for now, Mona? How active are the shadows right now?”

The cat swivels towards the door, cocking his head and closing his eyes for a moment before turning back to Joker and shaking his head. “There’s still some, but it’s not as bad as before. I think now is our best chance to make a break for it.” He explains quickly.

Joker looks to the other two, who are already moving towards the door. Skull’s shotgun grasped tightly in his hands, Ann wringing her whip in her hands, wrapping and unwrapping it around her knuckles. Nodding to herself she draws her handgun and gently pushes open the door to the saferoom, peering out to find an empty corridor. Joker slips out quickly, and motions for the others to do the same. Mona takes the lead, Ann close behind him with Skull and Joker bringing up the rear. Despite the tense circumstances Joker finds her eyes drifting back to Ann and her new outfit on several occasions. Each time she catches herself she peels her eyes away to look at anything else, her face as red as Ann’s catsuit. She’s grateful that the other girl doesn’t seem to notice.

***

Thankfully the rest of the escape is mostly uneventful, the group staying in the shadows and slipping past guards until they exit the Castle of Lust and the Metaverse, eventually finding themselves huddled in a corner of the crowded Aoyama-Itchome station drinking soda. Ann’s the first to break the silence that settled over the group. “I’m going to make Kamoshida atone for what he’s done…” It’s almost a whisper, but as it pulls the rest of the groups attention to her she continues “Not just for Shiho or me, but for everything he’s done and everyone he’s hurt. No one else is going to suffer because of that asshole!” Ann’s eyes drift to meet Akira’s for just a moment before shifting back to focus on the rest of the group, “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it!” 

Ryuji claps her on the shoulder, “Yeah, we gotta put a stop to him, I say we head back in first thing tomorrow after school!” Ann nods in consent and before Akira can say anything, Morgana butts in from his place leaning over Akira’s shoulder.

“That’s not a smart idea, not only did we just agitate the palace ruler _again_ , but in case you weren’t paying attention, we’ve got only one of my medicine pellets left and Zorro and I can’t heal everyone all the time, I’d run out of energy in minutes! We have to find a way to get new medicine, and Lady Ann still needs a firearm like the rest of us too remember?” The cat explains quickly. “It’d be suicide to go back in so quickly, I understand that you’re all motivated to take down Kamoshida, and I’ll admit after seeing what he’s done I am too but we can’t let that make us reckless!”

The fight goes out of Ryuji quickly as he slumps his shoulders, Ann looks extremely put out, letting out a large yawn. “I don’t want to wait after what that asshole did but when you put it that way you do have a point I guess, it just doesn’t feel right sitting around knowing what he’s done and not doing anything about it.”

“I know the feeling, like you’ve got these anxious butterflies in your stomach right?” Akira chimes in, and when Ann nods she continues, “It’s not a comfortable feeling to have, but it’s better to deal with them than to stumble into something we’re not prepared for and end up in serious trouble.” Akira tries not to think about how close she came to death during her encounter with Moloch.

Ann interrupts her train of thought, bouncing back on her heels and letting her arms swing loosely at her sides as she lets out a sigh. “Guess I’ll just have to get used to it then, I should get going soon so I guess that I hope we’ll all get along!” She says brightly, holding out her hand for Akira to shake. The moment Akira takes her hand she can feel the cold, but increasingly familiar feeling of chains snapping in her heart. Shoving the urge to cringe down, Akira steps away from the handshake.

From her side Ryuji lets out a grown. “You know, I’m kinda disappointed that your Persona isn’t a bird Ann.” He says out of the blue, Akira looks at him curiously while the other girl scoffs defensively. 

“Oh? And what’s so wrong about Carmen?” She asks and Akira takes a step back as Morgana shoots daggers at Ryuji from his spot on Akira’s shoulder.

“Insulting a Persona is basically insulting the user’s soul Ryuji, how dare you disrespect Lady Ann!” He yowls at the boy, who shrugs quickly and backpedals.

“You’ve got it all wrong, nothin’s bad about Carmen, it’s just that if she was a bird then we’d have Magician’s Red on our side, y’know how cool that’d be?” He finishes, looking to Akira for support.

She snorts and lets out a laugh, “It would be pretty cool actually now that I think about it, seeing as Carmen’s probably the most Stand related Persona that we’ve got so far.” She sees Ann’s confused expression and quickly adds “Not that there’s anything wrong with Carmen as she is now of course!” Backpedaling like Ryuji did.

In confusion Ann simply tilts her head and gawks at the two for a moment, putting pieces together in her head, “Most Stand related Persona, what does that even…” As realization hits her she lets out a groan and rubs her eyes with one hand exasperatedly. “Oh my god.” She says as the other two human members of the team begin giggling amongst themselves, “You’re both such massive nerds.” She finishes, a small smile peeking from under her frown before saying goodbye and leaving the three other thieves to themselves.

Once the laughter subsides Morgana bats Akira’s ear gently, “I’ve _told_ you before, they’re not Stands! They are Personas! Get it right Joker!” He exclaims as the girl rubs the offended ear. “Anyway, I couldn’t say this in front of Lady Ann, but one of you will have to take care of me.” He finishes, nestling his head onto Akira’s shoulder.

“You’re a boy so…” Akira looks to Ryuji expectantly, who shakes his head immediately.

“Oh no, my apartment doesn’t allow pets so that’s not gonna fly, Mom would _kill_ me if I brought home a cat out of the blue, or at all really, sorry but it’s gotta be you Akira.” He shrugs sheepishly.

Akira and the cat share a glance and she points a finger at him, “If you do _anything_ weird or creepy I won’t be held responsible for what I do next!” Akira gently pokes his nose once for emphasis as the cat slinks back into the bag to get away from the finger.

“I’d never do such a thing! That would be dishonorable of me, and I am a _very_ honorable human, I just know it!” He defends, puffing out his chest as much as a cat can. Akira considers him for a moment before nodding in assent.

“Okay, we’ll just consider it… an indefinite team building exercise then!” She declares and the cat happily meows his approval. As the matter is settled the three thieves make their way to the station proper to catch the next train back into Shibuya, and for Akira an extension back to Yongen-Jaya. As the two wait for the train to come Ryuji snickers and bumps Akira in the shoulder. She turns to him, seeing that he has an odd grin on his face.

“So, Ann’s Phantom Thief outfit huh?” He gives a low whistle, “It’s just… y’know?” He lets the word hang in the air.

Akira looks at him in surprise, her cheeks beginning to redden, “Oh, uh… I mean, it’s certainly interesting with all that red on it and all…” She replies weakly, looking anywhere but at Ryuji, who laughs in response.

“There’s no need to hide that you’re into her Akira, I mean hell you were staring at her ass more than Mona was, don’t think I didn’t notice either of you lookin’!” He points out mischieviously.

Akira’s gaze is now firmly planted at her feet with a blush in full bloom. _Wait, what does he mean ‘into her’, her outfit was just so… distracting, that’s what it was!_ “It’s not like I was staring at her butt, I was looking at her tail!” She mutters, not realising that she’s started to speak out loud, “It just sways so much when she moves and her hair is really pretty when it’s pulled back like that and-!” She stops in shock when she notices that Ryuji has stopped laughing and is giving her a quizzicle look.

“Dude, you know it’s okay to admit that you’ve got the hots for Ann.” He says simply as Akira shakes her head.

“No, I’m not into her! I’m not into girls at all, no sir!” She says shaking her head almost comically.

Ryuji grins and leans in, “Oh really? So if you had to choose between dating me or Ann you’d choose me?” He says slyly, eyebrows raised.

“I’d choose Ann.” The answer comes unbidden, and nearly instantaneous. As Ryuji’s face falls the two can hear Morgana nearly howling with laughter from his spot in Akira’s bag.

“Ouch!” Ryuji exclaims theatrically, putting his hand over his heart like he’s been wounded. “You didn’t have to put me down so hard you know?” He whines before quickly bouncing back from his faux sadness. “Alright, so if I’m off the table, why choose Ann, what’s she got that I don’t?” He asks, looking her straight in the eye.

Akira rubs her arms idly as she thinks, her gaze shifting from Ryuji to glimpse around the station before she answers. “I think that she’s really pretty and that she smells really nice. No offense Ryuji, but… I don’t know, I’d just pick Ann I guess?”

Ryuji gives an energetic nod, “How about if the guy wasn’t me, if it was any other guy would you still pick Ann?”

 _I mean…_ Akira goes through the boys she’s known in her life, thinking about the ones she knew in her hometown growing up and the answer continues to come up as other girls instead. Nanami, the butcher’s daughter back in Shizouka, takes the place of the boy who she helped tutor in class at her hometown. When she thinks of ‘the hottest boy’ of her grade back in Shizouka, Ann comes to mind instead. Even Niijima-sensei and Kawakami-sensei make their own appearances the more she thinks on it. “Shit.” She whispers as Ryuji lets out a barely restrained whoop.

“So…?” He lets the word dangle in the air like bait and Akira sighs as she takes it.

“You… may have a point about that. It’s just that I’ve never really thought about this before! I always kind of assumed that I’d get a husband some day and that we’d take over my family’s restaurant with our kids… to think about it now, it’s just so confusing.” She rambles quietly, rubbing her arms more insistently than before.

“Hey, don’t worry about it Akira, it ain’t like it’s the end of the world or anything. It just means that you can go babe watching with me next time we go to out.” He says, elbowing her gently.

She scoffs in mild disgust and elbows him back “That’s horrible Ryuji! Besides… it feels wrong to think about something like that, especially after what we saw back in the Castle of Lust.” She shivers when she thinks of Ann being stuck with the Shadow Kamoshida.

Grimacing, the blonde boy slumps his shoulders a bit, “Why you gotta make me feel like shit about that? Not that you don’t have a point.” He sighs as Morgana decides to wriggle back out of the bag to take his perch on Akira’s shoulder.

The cat looks affronted as he beholds Akira, “A rival!? I _will_ defeat you in my quest for Lady Ann’s love, I swear it!” As he feigns slashing at her with his claws, batting at the empty air in front of him.

Taking the bag off her shoulder Akira stares directly at Morgana, “Okay, first point, no one is fighting anyone here, especially not over _romance_. Second, I don’t even want to date Ann in the first place! I just think she’s really pretty is all.”

Morgana tilts his head in confusion, “But you said you found her attractive, doesn’t that mean you want to date her?”

Ryuji lets out a strangled squawk of a laugh, “You don’t have to want someone just because you find them attractive Morgana, I mean I think that the student prez is kinda hot but there ain’t no way in hell I’d go near _that_ in a million years. You get me?” He asks the cat, who swivels his head about awkwardly to look at Ryuji as Akira places her bag back onto her shoulder.

“Ah, so love and physical attraction are two different things… the human world is so _complex_! It’d be so much easier if I could just remember my time as a one” The cat laments, laying his head onto Akira’s shoulder.

Reaching a hand back she gently pats Morgana on the head to comfort him as she thinks to herself. _He thinks that Niijima-senpai is attractive?_ Images of piercing red eyes fill her mind and she shakes her head free of them as their train pulls into the station, shoving down her newfound revelation about girls as the three step onto the train to go home. Ryuji whispers to Akira as the doors close and they’re closed into the small space of the train. “So… how’re you gonna convince your guardian to let the cat stay with you? Aren’t you living in a cafe or something?”

Akira’s face pales as she thinks about how Sojiro’ll react to her bringing in what is essentially a stray cat into a dining establishment.

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now as a final note, I'm not going to really get into palace combat and only some exploration in this because of how much other stuff I want to get to. Basically I'll really go into depth about new members getting their personas, important moments in the palaces themselves, and the actual heists themselves because holy cow I'd be writing a lot of fight scenes and I don't want them to get stale or boring for you to read. With that said I'm going to go back to work now.
> 
> Edit: I also wanted to add a bit of a fun fact that I forgot to mention, if you were wondering what the proper answer to the Bicorn's question was, the "Why is a kind hearted and devoted husband best?" The answer is because they taste the best! According to mythology, kind husbands were the bicorn's prey while the Chichevache preyed on obedient wives. If I do more scenes of Persona collecting I want the gang to have to piece together clues/research their targets before they can persuade them to join.


	10. Chapter 10

When Akira finally reaches Leblanc she’s glad there’s still a customer to keep Sojiro’s attention, a woman with bluish black hair wearing a leather jacket. Her head turns to look at Akira when the bell above the door jingles. Akira has to resist a gasp when she can actually see the woman’s face, adorned with heavy black eyeliner, a chain necklace, and a thick studded choker. _Holy crap!_ Akira thinks as she does her best not to stare as she moves past the woman. _She looks like she runs a gang in her spare time! Seriously with that getup she looks totally badass and… oh my god those are tight pants._ The girl doesn’t even realize she’s stopped to stare until she hears a polite cough in front of her. Her face goes red as her attention snaps up to face the woman, who smiles like a cat playing with a canary.

“May I help you, or did I spill something on my shirt?” the woman asks playfully, her brows lifting a touch in amusement. Akira stares, unable to respond quickly as her brain flips between embarrassment and panic. She’s quite sure the woman knows _exactly_ what Akira had gotten so caught up in staring at.

She’s saved from the woman’s mischievous torments as Sojiro finally notices her, “Hey, lay off the customers, stay upstairs while we’re open for business.” He instructs her, and grateful for a reason to leave, she all but runs to get into her room. She can still hear their voices coming from the stairs when she ascends them.

“Sorry about her rudeness” her guardian apologizes quickly.

A low chuckle comes from the woman, “Nothing to worry about, I didn’t mind. Thanks for the drink though, I’ll come back later.” The voice says and Akira can just hear the click of booted heels walking out the door over Sojiro giving her the customer service routine.

When she sets her bag down on her bed and Morgana slinks out of it, sitting and surveying his new kingdom with disappointment. “What kind of place is this!? Ryuji said you lived in a cafe, not some kind of… of… Squatter’s nest!” He splutters in confusion.

Akira gives him a chastising look, “I _do_ live in a cafe… just in the attic! Besides, it’s not that bad,” She throws a glance around the room at the clutter that still fills some of the shelves and the layers of dust and cobwebs that still line some parts of the room that she couldn’t reach before “it just needs a bit more love is all.” She can tell that the cat doesn’t buy it even before she finishes talking because she doesn’t quite believe it either.

“You know… we never asked if Lady Ann would take me in. You should call her and ask, just to be sure!” The cat prances off his haunches excitedly, making the bed springs bounce and squeak. Akira flicks Morgana gently on the forehead to get him to settle down.

Once he does, she points her finger at him authoritatively before starting, hoping to mimic Sojiro’s commanding tone. “No, we won’t be asking Ann if you can stay with her, you act weird enough around her already. Now you’re going to behave Morgana, and most of all you’re going to _be quiet_! If Sojiro finds out-”

“If Sojiro finds out what?” The question comes in staccato and Akira whirls around to find her guardian towering over her with a look of disapproval plastered to his face. His eyes move from her, down to her bed where Morgana has peeked around her side to view the man.

“Is this guy your landlord or something?” He asks quietly as the two size each other up.

Sojiro breaks the staring contest first, slapping a palm to his head in exasperation, “Oh for- I thought I heard meowing from downstairs! What are you doing bringing a _cat_ in here? Don’t your parents run a restaurant?” When Akira nods he continues, “So you know what having him here could do to me right? Seriously what possessed you to bring that thing _here_ of all places?”  
As she couldn’t rightfully tell Sojiro what was actually going on, yet again she came up with another half truth. “He… he didn’t have a home! I kept walking past him on my way home from school and everyone kept ignoring him. He was so hungry and looked so sad that I…” She trails off and gestures limply at Morgana, doing his best to look weak. Thankfully his stomach rumbled at that moment, selling their act.

Sojiro’s eyes soften considerably as he looks at the duo before he shakes his head and sighs, “That’s a shame, but you should know better than anyone that having a pet in a restaurant is begging to get it shut down.” Akira winces as she prepares for Sojiro to drop the axe and tell her that Morgana has to go, “On the other hand, having something to take care of might help keep you out of trouble… fine, it can stay but if this is gonna work you’re gonna have to follow a couple of rules.” He says, much to their surprise. They perk up attentively when he continues, “It has to be quiet when we’re open, and it doesn’t get to go roaming downstairs! If either of those things happen I’m tossing it out!” He finishes before pausing and adding, “And taking care of it is gonna be all on you, I’m not helping out!” 

The old man turns to walk back downstairs as the thieves turn to each other in shock. Morgana’s stomach growls again as he remarks “The chief seems like a real stickler… but I guess he’s a big softy on the inside.”

“I don’t get him,” Akira whispers to the cat, now aware of just how far their voices could travel, “one second he’s stern and the next he’s like a doting parent! He’s like some kind of tsundere for old people!” She shrugs, confused.

The two freeze when they hear Sojiro coming back up the stairs and see the guardian with a plate in his hand. “I could hear the little kitty’s stomach rumbling from the landing! Come here you little cutie.” He sets the plate of tuna scraps down on the bed and Morgana’s eyes practically double as he leaps onto it with fervor.

Sojiro chuckles at the cat’s antics before awkwardly mumbling, “I suppose I could help with paying for cat food… I’m already feeding two, what’s one more?” He says so quietly that Akira can barely make it out.

 _I guess the food costs for Sojiro and I aren’t all that expensive, you wouldn’t think so with how many ingredients he puts in that curry of his._ She reasons as the old man turns to face her directly.

“I’ll pay for its food, but on two conditions! First, you have to be the one to feed it, and second I want to name it.” He lays out his demands calmly.

“Uh, deal but the cat already kinda has a name… He’s Morgana.” The cat briefly halts his feast to look up at the two with a mouthful of tuna staining his whiskers before turning back to his meal.

Slumping, Sojiro sighs and turns away “Huh, I was hoping I’d get to name him, he looks an awful lot like a ‘Prince’.”

Before he can turn to head out Akira remembers something she overheard him saying and asks him, “So who was that lady downstairs? I’m sorry for acting so rudely, but I just… I’ve never really seen anyone dressed like _that_ before.” She refrains from telling him exactly why she’d had such a reaction.

He hums after a moment, “I suppose you don’t generally see people like that out in the country huh? That’s Doctor Takemi, she runs the clinic down the street and across from the movie theater. She’s a nice enough girl, but rumor is that she gives crappy examinations and sells some sketchy homemade medicines out of the clinic. Don’t know why people give her such a hard time over it, not like she’s getting in the way of their lives.” Shrugging he calls over his shoulder as he heads back down the stairs. “Wash that dish when he’s done, I’m headed out for the night!” 

The lights downstairs flick off and they hear the door click shut before Morgana turns to her with his mouth still full, “I guesh the chief likesh me more’n you.” he chews out with a smug look on his face. Scoffing lightheartedly she takes the now empty plate from the cat and takes it downstairs to clean, flipping the light back on as she goes. While washing the dish she thinks to herself, _a doctor that sells sketchy medicine out of her clinic… is that something we could use for our infiltrations?_

When she’s done she puts the plate away and retreats back to her room where Morgana is now meticulously cleaning himself on her bed. He looks up when she relays her thoughts about Doctor Takemi. When she’s finished he fixes her with a gleeful look, “Excellent thinking Akira! If we can get someone like her to give us medicine that’d take care of that problem. We should tell the others tomorrow before we go and check her out, she’s in Yongen-Jaya right?” He asks, mulling the next day over in his head.

Akira nods, “Yep, now do me a favor,” She makes a spinning gesture, “I have to change, and you promised you’d be a gentleman.” Dutifully the cat turns and leaps onto the windowsill, staring out at what little of the night sky he can see. Satisfied that he isn’t trying to peep at her through the reflection of the window she quickly changes out of her Shujin uniform and puts on her pajamas, taking extra care to ensure that there’s not even a chance he can see her arms. Once she’s done she speaks up again, “Alright, you’re good to turn around now.”

Morgana hops down from the window sill and as Akira settles into bed, he curls up over the blankets beside her and putting his head down. “You know, I was harsh earlier… when I called this place a squatter’s nest.” He says quietly.

Akira hums as she pulls out her phone and texts her parents, opting not to say anything as she shifts her head to look at the cat.

“This is heaven compared to Kamoshida’s cells and the alley I was sleeping in, and since I can’t remember anything before then… that means this is the best place I’ve ever had so I’m sorry about insulting it earlier.” He closes his eyes as Akira’s hand settles to gently stroke his back.

“It’s okay, I know that it’s not what most people would expect… I know I certainly didn’t when I first got here.” She says, staring blankly at the vaulted ceiling.

“I also wanted to say that I don’t want this to be a one sided relationship, I don’t feel comfortable not contributing anything to the group so I’ll start teaching you how to do things like make infiltration tools and other stuff that’ll be useful to our infiltrations while I’m staying here. Deal?”

Akira frowns slightly and moves her hand to better see Morgana’s face. “You aren’t just staying here without contributing anything Morgana, you’re a vital member of the team and I think that’s contributing enough, but if you want to do that’s fine. Just don’t think that you _have_ to do something to stay here. Do that and we’ll have a deal.” She holds her hand in front of the cat’s and Morgana lazily lifts a paw into her hand and they awkwardly shake on it. A smile makes its way onto Akira’s face as she closes her eyes, as the feeling of chains breaking manifests in her heart.

***

Incorporating Morgana into her new life is surprisingly easier than Akira expects it to be, the cat napping in her bag until she arrives at Shujin Academy, then transferring into her desk to nap again as she goes throughout her day. Thankfully none of the thieves run into Kamoshida during the day, and by the end of it the group meets up on the roof, after having to remind Ryuji to inform Ann that was where they had decided to meet.

Their meeting didn’t last long however, Akira and Morgana explaining the potential source of medicine they’d discovered the night before. As a group they agreed that it was best if Akira and Morgana went to check it out and the meeting quickly adjourned after that. As they arrive back at Yongen-Jaya the cat gets her attention and she removes her headphones. “So how are you going to get the medicine from her? I doubt she’ll just give it to you if you ask.”

Akira blushes, “I was just planning on asking her for it and going from there honestly.” When Morgana makes a shocked noise she protests quietly, “I’ve never gotten _illegal_ meds from someone before! Seriously, we left my wheelhouse of expertise before I even got to Tokyo, I’m just making this up as I go.”

The cat sniffs judgmentally as the pair arrive at the doorstep of the clinic, even standing outside of it the two can hear the sound of shredding guitars and loud drums, intermittently interrupted by loud singing that could be considered borderline screaming. Morgana folds his ears back in disgust as he shrinks back into Akira’s bag, his sensitive hearing not agreeing with the music.

It only grows louder as Akira pushes the door open and quickly shuts it behind her. Able to hear the music more clearly, Akira realizes she recognizes the band playing as she looks around the room. The lobby of the clinic could only be described as shabby, it’s small and dimly lit by fluorescent lights that flickered their bluish green light overhead. The clock above the main desk is cracked near the bottom and upon closer inspection isn’t even ticking. The woman from Leblanc is behind the desk now, dressed in a stark white lab coat and a short green dress, accentuated with a red belt, leaning back in her chair with one leg crossed over the other. The woman is idly marking things off on a clipboard and Akira’s face heats up far faster than it did the night before as she clears her throat and rings the bell on the desk .

The woman’s eyes flick from the clipboard to Akira and a single eyebrow raises in what she thinks is amusement. In a fluid motion the woman leans forward and turns down the volume on the radio, the atmosphere suddenly becoming much quieter, Akira can feel Morgana untensing in her bag as the sound abates.

“Sorry about the music, I don’t get many customers around this time of day. You’re the girl from Sakura-san’s aren’t you?” Akira nods, “Well, what can I help you with?” The doctor asks, tapping her pen against the clipboard expectantly.

Floundering, Akira blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, “I need medicine!” In her bag she almost feels Morgana attempting to suppress a groan, the doctor’s brow simply raises a little higher.

“Yes, that is why people come to a clinic.” The woman snarks lightly “The question is _what_ medicine you need, are you feeling tired, dizzy, are you sick or in any kind of pain?” Doctor Takemi gives the list slowly to Akira and she takes a breath, forcing herself to think before answering.

“I start to feel dizzy every once in a while, I think it’s stress. I just moved into the area and I’m new at school and…” Akira gestures emptily around her and a glint of sympathy creeps into the woman’s eyes.

Standing, the woman points to a shut door close to them, “Head into the exam room and I’ll be right there. Akira quickly walks into the lab room and is surprised by the difference compared to the lobby. The room is clean and fully stocked with machines and other medical things that Akira doesn’t even recognize. She’s forced to step further into the room when the door opens again behind her and Doctor Takemi steps into the small room as well. The woman strolls over to the desk and takes a seat, crossing her legs and gesturing for Akira to sit down on a cushioned stool next to her. Being nearly eye level and directly across from the doctor’s long legs proves somewhat distracting and Akira takes to examining the rest of the room while the other woman asks her a massive slew of questions. She does her best to answer them, and eventually ends up telling the woman about _how_ she came to live in Sojiro’s cafe. It’s surprising to her when the woman hardly blinks in reaction to her admitting to having a criminal record 

The doctor takes one last cursory look at her clipboard before addressing Akira. “It looks like you’re just stressed, given everything that you’ve told me I’m not surprised at all. Now how about some light painkillers, would that help?”

Akira scratches her cheek idly, “Uh, I was hoping for something stronger if you don’t mind?” She asks, hoping to be as nonchalant as possible.

She can tell she’s failed when Doctor Takemi’s smile shifts from somewhat playful and kind to something darker, “Ah, there it is. Now that that’s out in the open, why don’t you tell me what you’re really here for?” The doctor pushes, tapping her pen against her clipboard twice.

Gulping, Akira smiles, attempting to look innocent, “What I’m here for? I don’t have any idea what you mean, uh… doc?” Morgana is now batting at her foot from inside her bag, which is now sitting in front of her on the ground.

“Oh come on!” The doctor groans, stretching in her seat as Akira squirms, “I don’t doubt you’ve got stress, but honestly if you had a real problem you’d be going to Sakura-san’s doctor… who’s not me. Which means you’re here because you heard the rumors about me and you want something more… under the table. How close am I?”

Despite being in the hot seat Akira freezes in place as the woman all but nails the real reason for her visit. “I… yeah, I wanted to know if you did sell anything like that.” She settles on, her head lowered in shame.

Scoffing the doctor sets her clipboard on the desk and pinches the bridge of her nose, “People looking for illicit drugs seem to be my _only_ clientele these days. Well, if you’re here I guess high school’s gotten more difficult since I graduated then huh?” She pauses a moment and taps her pen against her lips several times in thought. Ultimately shrugging the doctor begins to scribble on her clipboard, “I guess I can prescribe you some medication… but I’m only giving you Ibuprofen, for now anyway. You seem like a decently earnest kid, and you don’t look like you’ll cause me any trouble.” She gets up and leaves the room briefly before returning with a small bottle with a small label that reads ‘Ibuprofen’, along with other technical jargon written in even smaller print that Akira doesn’t understand.

She takes the bottle when Doctor Takemi hands it to her and shifts it in her palm experimentally, the bottle is light. “Don’t worry that it’s not a name brand, I’m licensed to make my own formulas, I even sell some of it to hospitals around town. It’s up to you to use it responsibly by the way. Now that’ll be eight hundred yen please.” She says, extending her palm out expectantly.

Akira nearly yelps, _Eight hundred yen!? That’s really expensive though, and I only have five thousand yen… but it will be useful in the palace hopefully._ Dutifully, Akira pulls out four coins and drops them into the doctor’s palm. After that, Takemi pockets the money and quickly ushers her out of the exam room as another person, a larger man with an expensive looking suit and briefcase enters next. The door shuts quickly and Akira is suddenly alone in the lobby of the clinic, and it doesn’t take long before she can hear the conversation in the exam room heat up.

“Rumor has it that you’re creating a drug so potent it could give a person unlimited power!” A deep voice shouts angrily, which is quickly followed by the doctor’s laughter.

“‘Unlimited power’? Doctor Oyamada I think you’ve spent too much time watching anime with your son. Even you should know that such a thing is impossible.”

The man splutters for a bit before regaining his bearings, “Maybe not, but creating experimental drugs, medicine, and herbal remedies are all severe health code violations! You could also be creating other things, some sort of enhanced stimulant perhaps? Something like that could lead to massive social issues you know?” He accuses.

Doctor Takemi chuckles again, more morosely now. “I’m just a quack, you know that right? You’re putting too much stock in me.”

When the man, Oyamada, speaks again it’s with a barely restrained glee. “I doubt the police will care, but the media? Oh I imagine that they will soon pick up on it and come down upon you even harder than before! The name ‘Tae Takemi’ will never be heard in the medical field again when they’re done with you, so I suggest you take all of that ‘medicine’ of yours and dispose of it soon!” He finishes and Akira can hear footsteps, followed by the rattling of the exam room doorknob. 

Spurred into action the girl immediately wrenches open the door to the clinic and hops the stairs two at a time and briskly walks her way back to Leblanc. She brushes past the customers and Sojiro, who merely nods to her as she passes, and makes her way up to her room. Setting her bag down onto her bed Morgana hops out and sits.

“Okay, we got the medicine, but you heard the two talking, it sounds like she’s got something even stronger than what she gave us. We should follow up on that, having better medicine will only be a boon to us!” He says quietly as Akira paces across the room, holding the bottle of Ibuprofen in her hand.

“She’s definitely got more powerful medicine, Ibuprofen isn’t really that strong to begin with but hopefully it’ll do, but my concern is with costs. This single bottle cost us a fifth of our cash, if we’re going to start asking Doctor Takemi for stronger meds, we need to have a more consistent way of making money, the shadows just don’t drop enough for us to consider it a viable solution.” She pulls out her phone and sees a message from Ryuji in the group’s newly formed chat.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** You know that gun store I mentioned where I got our model guns? Its in Shibuya I can take you there tomorrow if you want seeing as Ann still needs one

Biting her lip Akira thinks through her plans for the next day before returning to the conversation.

**Akira Kurusu:** That sounds good, let’s meet in the station square at Shibuya around noon then?

**Ann Takamaki:** Sorry guys but you’ll have to go without me because I made arrangements to visit Shiho in the hospital tomorrow. Ryuji I’ll give you some money before I go so that you guys can get me something from the store.

**Ryuji Sakamoto:** Sounds good Ann

**Akira Kurusu:** Okay, do you have anything in particular you want us to pick out for you? 

**Ann Takamaki:** Something that’s easy to use. I’ve never used a gun before.

**Akira Kurusu:** Will do, I hope your visit tomorrow goes well!

**Ann Takamaki:** Thanks you guys see you on Monday!

Akira quickly texts her parents before putting her phone on the charger and having Morgana turn around again as she changes. After that she settles in with her science textbook and studies for a few hours, Morgana lounging quietly next to her and occasionally asking questions about the material. Sleep comes peacefully not too long after as Morgana curls into Akira’s side for warmth.

***

When noon comes around Ryuji all but drags Akira and Morgana through the busy streets of Shibuya as throngs of workers, weekend shoppers, and tourists flow in mindless currents around them. She nearly loses sight of the boy when he suddenly ducks into an alleyway, when Akira finally manages to get to him she finds that they’re standing in front of a shop with a dimly lit green light that flickers in the shadows of the alleyway. ‘Untouchable’ the sign reads, Akira can’t see in the windows past the door because of the myriad of signs and postings stuck to it.

“This is the place that you got our guns?” Akira asks Ryuji skeptically.

The boy simply bounces on his heels excitedly as he turns to her, “I know it looks real sketchy but I’m tellin’ you it’s totally legit! Now c’mon let’s get inside!” He waves to her as he’s already pushing open the door to the shop. Akira follows and is immediately taken aback by the interior.

If the exterior gave the feeling of it being sketchy, the interior was downright illicit as she walks inside. There are barely any lights inside save for a few weak fluorescent bulbs overhead and the lighting of a display case built into the counter. Behind the counter is a man reading a magazine, not even bothering to acknowledge Akira and Ryuji whatsoever. The shop is neatly organized yet somehow cluttered and claustrophobic as they approach the manager behind the counter.

As Akira gets a better look at his face she nearly gasps, a large gecko tattoo runs up his neck and his eyes are sunken and gaunt. He regards Akira coolly as she steps up to face him, “You know what you want?” The sheer abruptness of his question and demeanor catch Akira off guard, “I’m sorry?” She asks as politely as she can.

The man closes his magazine and lets it fall to the counter, the slap of thick paper hitting glass reverberating around the small store. Groaning, the owner leans forward in his seat, “What are you looking for? Recommendations? A fucking sign? Just buy whatever catches your attention, doesn’t really matter.”

Ryuji scoffs next to her, “Some customer service you got here.” he grouses, throwing his hands up in frustration.

The man gives Ryuji a stink eye before turning back to Akira, and she can practically hear the man rolling his eyes as he talks, “Fine, what are you looking for? An automatic? Semi-auto? Revolver? You looking for a long gun or handgun?” The man asks in a rapid fire fashion, brows raised expectantly at Akira.

 _I have almost no idea what any of that means._ She thinks worriedly, thankfully she’s saved from looking like an idiot by Ryuji, who takes the fall for her, albeit unwittingly, “Automatic!? Dude when’d we start talkin’ about cars?” He asks bewildered.

Now the man actually rolls his eyes and Akira can clearly see his patience wearing thin, “Listen kiddies, this is an _enthusiast_ shop, you have any idea how pissy my regulars’ll get if I let a couple of casuals like you hang around?”

Ryuji looks affronted at this, “Casuals!? Dude I bought shit from here last week, don’t you remember me?”

The man makes a show of scratching his stubbly chin, a mockingly ponderous look on his face. “Hmmmm…. Nope, can’t remember you.”

Ryuji balls his fists and growls, muttering “You bastard.” under his breath as he does. Akira puts a hand on his shoulder and nods behind her, gesturing for him to take a step back. She’s grateful when he takes a deep breath and steps away from the counter. When she takes his place the man behind the counter gives her the same unimpressed look he gave her before.

“And you? What’s your poison?” He drawls, already reaching for his magazine again.

“Something that looks real!” Akira blurts, Morgana’s explanation of the Metaverse coming to the forefront of her mind.

This seems to get the shop owner’s attention as his fingers stop just above the magazine. He retracts and gives her a more interested look. “Oh?” He intones, “Looks like we got a real Bonnie and Clyde here huh? Plannin’ a big bank robbery or somethin’?”

“Bonnie and Clyde?” Akira asks tilting her head in confusion, “Never mind, I actually wanted to get into building these models, my friend here showed me some of the stuff from your shop and it got me interested in it.” She explains meekly, wringing her hands together.

The man’s demeanor shifts significantly and he chuckles, “Lookin’ to get into the model collecting scene huh? Should’ve said so, I’m always up for helping fresh faces.” The smile drops momentarily, “Got two rules if you’re gonna buy from me though, so pay attention. Rule one: You don’t go flashin’ these things around outside or pointin’ them at people, keep ‘em in your bag or at home. Rule two: Don’t let the cops know you have these, and if they do find out, you keep your mouth shut on where you got ‘em, I don’t need them coming around here and hasslin’ me. Got it?”

The word ‘cops’ causes Akira’s blood to freeze and she takes a deep breath, “That won’t be a problem… I don’t want them near me either…” She mutters, her wringing hands shifting to rub her arms absentmindedly as she looks at the door to the alleyway nervously.

The shop owner nods almost understandingly, “How ‘bout that? Looks like we got ourselves an understanding.” He sighs and the small smile returns to his face, “Now these aren’t real guns, and it’s easy to tell if you look close because real guns feel… different, they feel more solid and have a real heft to ‘em that you just can’t get with plastic.” He explains slowly as he points to one of the models on display in the glass counter.

 _Heft is right, they’re heavier than they look._ Akira thinks absentmindedly about her newly acquired pistol before her attention snaps back to the owner.

“I’ve got some real good stuff in the back, but that’s for my more… dedicated clientele, stick around the scene long enough and I might just let you have a peek at it, but for now? You get the kiddie stuff, sit tight and I’ll bring it out.” He finishes before hauling himself out of the chair and walking into the back of the shop.

Ryuji punches Akira on the shoulder with a smile on his face, “Nice going dude, we’re in! We’re goin’ for the fancy shit right? I want my new baby to shine!” He pauses for a moment before digging around in his pockets. When he’s done he presents Akira with a number of coins that at a glance looks to be about roughly five thousand yen, and a pink coin purse with a sakura tree sewn into the front of it. “Here’s my share and Ann’s, pick me out somethin’ good alright?”

Akira opens the coin purse and peers inside, shaking the bag a bit to see the coins, “It’s roughly the same, five thousand yen apiece.” Akira mutters, her mental checkbook adding to what she has currently. Her calculations are interrupted by the owner coming back with several pamphlets with pictures of guns and other details on them. He lays them flat on the counter and wordlessly takes his seat again, picking up his magazine and flipping through it idly. Akira scans the weapons carefully before selecting one from the pile, a compact looking shotgun called the Benelli M3. She scans the pamphlets until something catches her eye. _The IMI Uzi… made in Israel in 1940’s and adopted by Israeli military in 1954, this sleek automatic machine pistol has since been exported to ninety countries due to its ease of use and low manufacturing cost._ She reads silently. Clearing her throat she gets the shop owner’s attention. “Sorry to bother you, but I’m new to this and… you mentioned revolvers, automatics, and semi automatics earlier, what does that mean exactly?” 

The man scratches his chin for a second before responding, “Guns have a variety of firing mechanisms that each operate differently, like… eh screw it, here take a look at this.” He pulls a key ring out of his coat pocket and unlocks the glass counter pulling out two handguns, one looks similar to Akira’s while the other has a more rounded grip and a longer, thinner barrel with a cylinder in the middle. He takes the one similar to Akira’s and begins to point. “This here is a semi auto, what would happen in a real pistol is when the trigger is pulled the hammer hits the firing pin which then ignites the gunpowder in the round. The gases from that bullet propel the bullet forward but they also push the slide back.” He gently pulls the slide back in demonstration, “Then another bullet would automatically be chambered in, and the entire process starts over. Essentially, one pull of the trigger means one bullet leaves the chamber, following me so far?” 

Akira nods as the man continues, setting down the semi automatic and picking up the other handgun. “This here is a revolver, it gets its name from how the cylinder turns every time the trigger is pulled. It’s different from a semi automatic because instead of chambering a new round from a magazine, a revolver has six shots loaded into the cylinder, which turns after each trigger pull, and has to be loaded manually. Still with me?”

Akira looks at the two guns on the counter, “It seems like using that semi automatic is easier than a revolver, so why do people still go for them?” 

The owner smirks, “Good question, and there’s a couple of different answers, the most important one is that revolvers are always more reliable, they’re far less likely to jam up than a semi auto, and don’t need as much maintenance done on them compared to semi’s. Another reason is that people get all nostalgic for those old American wild west films, I get suckers comin’ in almost every week looking for a .45 Long Colt or a .44-40 Winchester model.” He chuffs a laugh before putting the two guns back in the glass case and pulls out a case hidden behind the counter, he opens it and pulls out a sleek black rifle, the shiny plastic glinting in the fluorescent shop lights. “Now this is an automatic, remember how the semi automatic works?” He smiles when Akira nods, “Well, an automatic does essentially the same thing, except that it will continue to fire as long as the trigger is held down and ammo is in the gun, no need to pull the trigger every time. There are other firing mechanisms of course, like the pump action you’ve got in your hands,” He points to the Benelli M3 pamphlet she’s holding, “anyway, that help at all?” 

Akira nods, plucking the pamphlet for the IMI Uzi out of the lineup and holds the two pamphlets out for the manager to take, along with the yen Ryuji and Ann had given her. He thumbs through the pamphlets approvingly and walks into the back room again, a small black case in each hand when he comes back. He sets both on the counter and fiddles with the laptop he has on the counter before pushing them towards her. She takes them both and thanks him for his help.

The man smiles, “Hey, like I said I’m always happy to show beginners the ropes and I get the feeling you’re going to be a very valuable customer kid. Just,” He leans in, jerking his head to Ryuji, who had decided to busy himself looking at military helmets the entire time, and the man whispers to Akira “don’t go bringin’ your friend around, he’s loud and in my experience loud people attract the wrong kind of attention, you get me?” 

Akira pales and nods lightly as the man leans back and takes his seat again, giving her a solitary nod before pulling his feet up onto the counter and leaning back into his chair to read his magazine again. 

Getting Ryuji’s attention she hands him the case for his new shotgun and he grins, giggling to himself, “Aw man, this is gonna be sweet! Hey, I think I’m gonna let you pick out my stuff from now on, you’ve got a better eye for it!” He says as they step back out into the alleyway, Akira tucks Ann’s new weapon into her bag, Morgana squirming to accommodate the large package. He eventually heaps himself on top of it, his furry head poking from the bag. 

“I have to say Akira, you did much better here than with the doctor. I’d say he’ll happily be doing business with us again.”

Akira can feel her face go red as she responds, “Well, it helps that I wasn’t lying to him like I was with Doctor Takemi, lying is bad but lying to get drugs? That’s pretty illegal stuff Morgana, if she wasn’t as sketchy as Sojiro said she was we would’ve been screwed.” 

Morgana merely nods at that, slicking his paw with his tongue before grooming behind his ears. The trio sets off back into Central Street before Ryuji announces that he’s going to spend the evening at the arcade, wandering off in the opposite direction they’d originally come. Akira waves goodbye to him before pushing her way back into the sea of people on her way back to Leblanc.

***  
  


By the time Akira manages to reach the cafe, she walks in to see one final customer leaving, Sojiro giving the man an annoyed look behind his back as he brushes past Akira on his way out. When the door finally swings shut he massages the back of his neck, “What a pain.” He complains until he notices Akira staring at him from across the bar, “What do you want, if you’re bored go wash some dishes or something. Seeing as you’re living here you may as well contribute.” He trails off, muttering to himself.   
Akira quietly excuses herself from the grumpy old man and makes her way upstairs, quickly stashing Ann’s new gun with her own before flopping back onto her bed, pulling out her phone to see a text from Ann.

**Ann Takamaki:** So I went to see Shiho in the hospital she’s stable now but the doctors don’t know when she’ll regain consciousness though

**Akira Kurusu:** Stable is good though right? I’m sure she’ll be okay.

**Ann Takamaki:** You’re right, she will get better I just have to believe in her right?

**Ann Takamaki:** Kamoshida’s still going to pay for what he’s done. No matter what.

Unsure of how to properly reply to that Akira plugs her phone into the charger and sends another quick text to her parents before sitting on the bed, Morgana struts over to the workbench she cleared off a few days prior and hops onto the surface of it, stalking back and forth as he inspects it before turning and sitting, “This will do wonderfully! Akira, it’s time for me to live up to my end of our bargain, we’ll start simple. Tonight I’m going to teach you to make a lockpick, now come over here!”

Dutifully Akira follows, pulling out the stool and waiting as Morgana leaps down from the table and slinks behind her bed before reemerging with several bits of twine and some scraps of sheet metal in his mouth. He drops them on the desk, before slowly going through the steps of making a lockpick for Akira. It’s an arduous process, but by the end the two look on at the small pick that sits between them, smiles on their faces.

“This is a good start, I think we’re as prepared as we’re going to be for our infiltration, now let’s get some sleep. It’d be a bad idea to go into a Palace when tired after all.” He explains and Akira nods, yawning as she does so. She lazily twirls her fingers and Morgana quickly turns, facing the workbench this time as she changes. When she’s finished the two curl into bed as Akira pulls the comforter over her and falls asleep.

***

The walk to school the next day feels different, not only because Akira refrains from listening to music during the walk because she feels that it’d be rude to do that to Morgana, but because the air is charged around her. When she walks through the gate of Shujin Academy she passes Kamoshida, who leers at her with a look of well hidden lust. She feels the hairs on the back of her neck flair up in response as she quickly slips into the throngs of students making their way to class. Upon reaching her classroom she’s somewhat relieved to see that she’s not alone in this feeling, Ann sits at her desk, staring blankly out of the window but Akira can see Ann rapidly tapping her foot against the floor. The girl turns when Akira sits down.

Akira hands the girl her coin purse with its leftover change. “Your gear’s in my bag right now, are you ready for today?” She asks cautiously, worried about how hard the visit to Shiho may have been on the other girl. 

To her surprise Ann nods fiercely, “Seeing Shiho again like that… We’re going in _today_ , Kamoshida’s gonna get everything he deserves, I’m not backing out.” 

Akira raises her hands placatingly “I’m not questioning your resolve, just want to make sure everyone’s head is in the game before we get in there. This is… just a lot more than I’ve ever done before and I want to make sure everyone’s ready before we _do_ it.” She stresses, running her hands through her somewhat brushed black hair.

Before Ann can respond however they’re interrupted by Kawakami-sensei, who unceremoniously shuffles across the classroom to the girls, rubbing her eyes and yawning as she addresses Akira, “You need to come with me, there’s something I need to ask you. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.” Before turning on her heel and shuffling out of the classroom.

Akira gives Ann a fearful look before standing and following her teacher out of the room and over to the student counselling office. As the two stop in front of it, Akira clenches her teeth as Kamoshida walks out of the office, followed by another man and a somewhat familiar shock of burgundy hair, with another red ribbon tied in it again. The shorter girl smiles at Akira, as Kamoshida congratulates Kawakami-sensei for her diligence over the “problem” he’d told her about in the morning.

The other girl continues to look at her kindly, lips upturned in a polite smile. “Thank you again for last week, it was awfully kind of you to help, even though you didn’t have to.”

Kamoshida turns on the two quickly and steps between them, “You know this girl, Yoshizawa?” Akira can practically hear the measured act of shock and concern as the coach addresses the younger student while the other two look on unaware.

“Yes! Well… kind of, she helped me out when I first came here. Why?” The girl asks quizzically, tilting her head like a puppy. _And here it comes…_ Akira thinks dejectedly.

Kamoshida crosses his massive arms and shakes his head disapprovingly, “Remember that talk we had about how we have _some_ students here you shouldn’t get involved with? This one happens to be right up there at the top.” He says, some smugness creeping into his tone as he sneers down at Akira.

Not wanting to provoke him, or herself, further Akira takes to staring at the floor despondently as the other girl gasps. Akira watches as she steps back, shoes disappearing from her sight. “Oh, the delinquent transfer student?” She says quietly with a sort of cautionary awe. Akira’s saved from any more judgement by Kawakami-sensei, who quietly interjects that they have to use the guidance office. Kamoshida quickly ushers for the younger girl to follow him, but not before taunting Akira as he does so. Yoshizawa-san doesn’t follow the man immediately though, offering a quick bow to the two before she follows after him. _Probably more for Kawakami-sensei’s benefit than anything else._ Akira reasons as she steps into the office behind the woman. 

As the door closes Kawakami-sensei seems to deflate, slumping into one of the chairs and slouching, rubbing her eyes as Akira follows suit. “I’m going to get straight to the point. Did something happen between you and Kamoshida-sensei?” She asks, eyes straining on Akira.

“I…” Whatever she was about to say dies in her throat as she thinks. _Ryuji and I talked about how badly taking things to adults could be but we never even tried and with our current plan we could end up killing him, isn’t it right that I at least make the effort to explore every possible option before landing on the one that could end in murder? Not to mention it would be a safer option than investigating the Castle of Lust wouldn’t it? I have to try._

Straightening her back Akira bites her lip before slowly beginning. “Yes. I think that Kamoshida-sensei is being…” She pauses again, not wanting to be completely direct with her teacher, “I believe he is behaving inappropriately to students in this school and after what happened with Suzui-san, along with messages he’s been sending to a friend of mine I confr-.” She’s quickly cut off by Kawakami giving an appalled scoff.

“‘Friend? And what ‘friend’ would this be Akira-san? Hardly anyone at this school will even look at you, so please do not lie to me. Not to mention Kamoshida-sensei is an Olympic Medalist who graduated from this school with honors! I know you’ve been hanging around Sakamoto-kun during school, I don’t know why you’ve decided to rally behind that boy’s little crusade to ruin everything he touches but I suggest you stop it. I’m giving you a warning just this once because of how admittedly… rough your first few days have been so here it is: leave Kamoshida-sensei alone and stop hanging out with Sakamoto-kun, focus on your studies and your meetings with Niijima-san, got it? Things will be much better for you if you do.” The woman finishes harshly, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair before adding, “And I don’t know what you did for that girl outside the office but I suggest you leave _her_ alone as well. She’s been accelerated a grade to come here and she doesn’t need someone like you getting in her way.” 

When the tirade is finally over Akira sighs inaudibly and lowers her head, meekly letting out a “Yes, Kawakami-sensei.” _Ryuji was right… of course he was. Why would anyone believe someone like us?_ She stands along with her teacher and they quickly walk back to class. When she sits down her phone buzzes in her jacket pocket. She extracts it as covertly as possible and sees that Ann has sent her a message.

**Ann Takamaki:** You doing okay? 

Akira’s frown becomes the smallest of smiles at her new friend’s kindness as she considers her reply.

**Akira Kurusu:** Yep, Kawakami-sensei just wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting involved in anything I’m not supposed to.”

**Ann Takamaki:** Lol, we’re way past that now, not like she can prove it right?

Akira smiles and puts her phone away. They _don’t need to know about it, after all nothing disciplinary or counterproductive to our mission has happened so there really isn’t any harm._ With that she pulls out her notebooks and goes about her day.

***

When the end of the school day finally arrives the phantom thieves find themselves sequestered up on the school’s roof again, lounging against the desks as they go over their plans and resources. Morgana acts as the group lookout as Akira lays out the medicine and the case of Ann’s new weapon. They take it out and quickly assemble it, Akira walking her through how to safely handle the gun. Before long they find themselves in the alley outside of Shujin Academy, Akira’s phone clutched in her hand and the Metaverse Navigator open. She casts a weary glance at the rest of them and starts it. When the world shifts to the unnatural dark purple and red hues of the Castle of Lust they emerge from the alley, stopping at the drawbridge when Ann moves in front of them.

“Wait, didn’t we say I needed a codename when we came here?” Ann asks quickly as the group stops.

Mona nods as Joker and Skull take in her costume, “She’s got that tail and stuff so…” Skull trails off as the group stare at her, Joker blushing a bit as she does.

 _Catgirl? No, no god no that sounds cheesy. Kitty Woman? That’s so much worse. What would be a good name for her?_ Joker’s laments are quickly assuaged when she finds that she’s not the only one with bad ideas.

“How ‘bout Sexy Cat?” Skull asks, and even behind the mask Ann’s affronted look quickly tells the group that name won’t fly.

Of course, Mona’s idea can hardly be described as better, Ann all but shouting that being called ‘Cougar’ is anything but a compliment. 

“Well then choose your own damn name!” Skull sighs exasperatedly at the girl. 

Ann bites the edge of her lip before replying, “...Panther, that’s my codename! Panthers are cool right?”

With that matter settled the phantom thieves, Joker, Skull, Mona, and the newly minted Panther cross over the drawbridge and towards the vent they’ve been using to sneak into the castle. As they draw nearer Joker notices that the world’s hue shifts to a bluish color. As she turns to ask Mona about it she notices that he, along with Skull and Panther have stopped moving. She quickly tries to get their attention but finds them literally frozen in place unmoving. Panic and dread set in as Joker wonders if this is something that the Shadow Kamoshida has done.

A blue glow, brighter than the ambience around her flashes and she turns to face it. Next to the drawbridge is a neon blue prison cell door frame, its door ajar and standing next to it, one of the little gremlin wardens, the one with the clipboard. _Justine_. Her mind fills in as she cautiously approaches the child.

“My master would like a word with you.” The child says in a dead monotone before sharply turning and walking through the cell door. Sparing a glance back at her still unmoving friends, Joker gulps before following into the ethereal blue glow as the prison door slams behind her.


End file.
